


Priceless Treasure to Worthless Eyes

by radrezi



Category: Homestuck
Genre: F/F, F/M, Fluff, No Lusii, Panic Attacks, Pyrope's Place, SO MUCH FLUFF, Schoolstuck, Unrequited Kismesissitude
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-05
Updated: 2018-02-05
Packaged: 2019-03-14 01:42:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 24,805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13583334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/radrezi/pseuds/radrezi
Summary: Terezi wants nothing to do with tenth grade. What's the use? She'll never learn anything there anyway. At least nothing to help her become the best legislacerator since her mother, Redglare, for sure. That's when the coin flips and lands Terezi a funny little mutant troll who manages to steal her heart at first sniff. As well as snap it into puzzle pieces within the next second.And in the end, hopefully, she'll get his heart right back.---archiving my old fanfictions here first so people can get to them all in one place, provided they want toif you want to read the other book in my pyropes place series it is here on my old wattpad account https://www.wattpad.com/story/97586817-pyrope%27s-place-dave-strider-short-story





	1. Peanut Butter on Toast

Terezi had been working as the valet and receptionist of her domineering mother's hotel, Pyrope's Place, since her 13th birthday.   
Pulled into the deep abyss of family tradition, if you may.   
Terezi mulled over her thoughts as she sat at the receptionist's desk at 6:30 AM. This was incredibly silly, no one came here this early. But Redglare demanded obedience, or else.

She took her box of colored chalk out of a drawer and selected the beautiful cherry red stick. Terezi sniffed it, inhaling the sweet smell for a bit before shoving it into her mouth, sucking it like a lolly. She felt around the cluttered desk and found her small clock. The glass had been poked out so she could feel the hands of the clock and the slightly elevated numbers.

Hmm. Only ten more minutes before she was off duty and free to get breakfast from Latula, the hotel's chef and housekeeper. She was also the heiress to the establishment, and Terezi didn't envy her in the least. Hopefully as soon as her sister took over she could be dispatched for good.

Or at least after tenth grade she could escape to college for a degree in law. Terezi bristled with sudden excitement. Not for tenth grade, which she had as much use for as a second pair of horns, but for the thought of becoming a legislacerator and bringing justice to all of Alternia.   
Soon her little high had begun to subside, and Terezi's eyelids started to droop even more. She lazily set the clock down where she thought she had taken it from and settled down for a short nap. She had to be sure to wake up before Redglare came out for breakfast or she'd really catch it.  
Terezi was just dozing off when the huge glass doors of the hotel swung open and a troll rushed in. He smelt disgusting, like fish and... well, desperation (:P).

Terezi couldn't sleep like this, so she sat up. "What the fu-" she started to say, then stopped herself. Redglare did not allow swearing under any circumstances. "How can I help you?" She scowled. "Eridan."

...  
A/N: eridan i love you but someones got to be the anatogonist here ;0; gomenasai  
...

"Quick, Terezi! Give me a damn room!" Eridan said impatiently. Terezi knew he was hiding something. Maybe he was even on the run from the law! Well, he had chosen the wrong place to seek shelter, that was for sure!

Terezi suddenly filled up with energy and took out her dragon cane. "What have you got in your hand?" She asked, guessing he was holding the embezzled items (Where else? On the end of his nose?).

Eridan gasped. "How the fuck? You can't see!" He cried, then quickly lowered his voice. "I... I stole one of Cro's shitty records because apparently it's an antique and I can sell it and clean up." He muttered.

Terezi tilted her head and thought for a second, then lifted her cane and brought it right down hard on Eridan's head. He yelped and stepped back.

"We have a strict 'No-Law-Breakers' policy. And an even stricter 'No-Bul-... Bunk' policy. So you can get your sorry little-" she hated that damn no-swearing rule.

"Please leave." She said.

"Nyeh." Eridan pouted. He may have flipped her off, but she couldn't see it. He stormed angrily out, and was confronted by a rather pissed-off sibling. They crossed the street to their dingy little drugstore/pawnshop/brothel (for all she knew), Cronus practically biting his brother's limbs off before turning to kiss the Bing Crosby (he is not a douchebag thank you very much listen to one of his songs sometime theyre bloody great) record and hold it up heavenwards to admire it some more.

Terezi sat back down, happy to have lead another triumph for the law. She felt the hands of her clock again. 6:30, time for breakfast! She picked her cane back up, chewed up the rest of the chalk in her mouth and swallowed it, and walked into the dining room. 

 

"Yo Tez!" Latula said as Terezi entered the kitchen. The delicious smell of pancakes, eggs, toast and warm oatmeal wafted through.   
"Hey Tula." Terezi said, heaving herself up onto the counter. None of the food was for them, it was for the tenants in the hotel, of which there were twenty. Not very much for a six-story building with 20 rooms on each floor, but this wasn't exactly a five-star hotel. Or a one-star one either.

Budgets, you know.

Latula turned off the stove and turned to Terezi. "What does our resident tenth grader want for breakie today?" She asked, opening the cupboard.   
"I dunno. What is there?"  
"Cereal, bread; I could make you a sandwich, oatmeal, Strongheart-"   
"Strongheart? That's dog food!" Terezi exclaimed.   
"Yep, we've got six cans."  
"And no dog."  
"I know but there was such a rad sale going on and I couldn't resist!"   
Terezi swung her legs onto the counter and stood up to reach the cabinets. She opened the various jars inside and smelled the contents. Latula took the jar of peanut butter Terezi handed to her and started to smear it liberally on two slices of bread.  
"Hey, do you smell something burning?" Terezi asked when her sister handed her the sandwich and a glass of lime juice.   
"Can't smell a thing, sis." Latula reminded her, tapping her nose.  
"Well, something's burning. I should know."   
Latula turned around and-

"Shi- Shivers!" She yelled. The other stove had not been turned off and two hissing lumps of black which used to be fried eggs were smoking wildly in something that looked more like the lumps of charcoal than a frying pan. Latula quickly dumped the volatile contents into a the rubbish bin and threw the ruined pan into the sink where it made a very unnerving sizzle.   
Meanwhile, Terezi had spat out her half-chewed sandwich and was cackling hysterically. Latula sighed at her. "That's unhygenic, Terezi. You don't know where your hands have been."

Terezi shrugged and pushed the moist goop back into her mouth and started chewing it again. "Well, I think I'll leave for school now," she said through a mouthful of food, hopping off the counter and grabbing her cane on the way out.   
"Remember to bring home more eggs and a hottie!" Latula called after her.

 

Terezi clicked her way into the room she shared with Latula and fumbled around for her schoolbag, which she found on her bottom bunk. She was about to walk out when she heard footsteps down the hall. Redglare!

She stood still, not daring to breathe until the wicked woman passed. Only when she heard a chair scrape out of place and plates clink onto a table did Terezi dare sneak out of the building.

At school Terezi made her way over to her friend's usual meeting spot after depositing her bag in her locker. Nepeta was waiting for her with Equius by her side.   
"Hey, Terezi!" She said happily, hugging her friend tightly.   
"Omph! Nepeta, I need air!" Terezi giggled.  
Nepeta released her and said, "Oh, and Vriska's got the flu. Equius told me."   
Terezi realised she couldn't smell the inky, spidery smell her moirail. Really, all she could smell was sweat. Equius shifted awkwardly and took a fresh towel from his duffle bag.   
"Nepeta," he said, putting a saturated hand on his moirails shoulder. She turned to him.  
"Ahem, I'm going to go STRETCH-"

Nepeta and Terezi both covered their over-sensitive ears.

"-in the gym now. Be careful, alright?" "Of course..." Nepeta whimpered, removing her hands and shaking her head. The overwhelming smell of sweat slowly moved away, and Terezi found breathing possible once more.  
"So, what did you do in the summer?" Nepeta asked eagerly.  
"Oh, same old same old. Hey, so who's this new transfer student? You know, the one off the spectrum?"  
Nepeta furrowed her brow. "Well, I haven't seen him at all! I think his name is..." Her brows touched together in the middle as she contentrated. "Kar- Car- it started with 'Kar'... Karl? Cuckoo? Capybara? I dunno!"  
Terezi cackled. "We'll find out soon enough! So, tenth grade already, huh?"  
Nepeta stuck her nose in the air.

"Ugh, I can't wait to get out of here!"   
"And go to college?"  
"And start an animal shelter. Are you going to college? It's so hoity-toity."   
"I'm going to be the best legislacerator since my mum!" Terezi replied happily, puffing out her chest. "But... Hopefully not as scary."

Their conversation was interrupted by the bell. Students all around them squashed their way through the big double doors and into the school. Nepeta took Terezi's hand and pulled her up off the bench. "All right, let's get this year over with." She said.  
Terezi pulled against her friend and grabbed her dragon cane. Then the two lead each other to their respective classes.

The next time they met, it was lunchtime. Nepeta came over with some pish-posh looking girl dressed in a startling amount of pink. Terezi almost gagged on her pasta at the scent of her. "Terezi, this is Feferi; Feferi, Terezi." Terezi nodded in acknowledgement while holding her breath to try and keep out the toxic smell. Feferi, meanwhile, burst quite like a bubble with a bottomless pit of questions.   
"Terezi? What a nice name! Nepeta has told me so much about you! Are you going to eat all that? Can you help me with this math problem? Is that salad good? Is your mum really THE Redglare? So shrewd! What is your opinion on fracking? Do you really eat red chalk? Is it good? Maybe I should try pink chalk. I bet it's not as gritty as glitter! Still, addiction is a powerful thing, no?"

Terezi cringed slightly and tried her best not to laugh at this girl's enthusiasm. She noticed the fins on Feferi's face and quickly interrupted her chain (or chains) of thought.   
"Wow! Are you a fushia blood?"

Feferi stared at her blankly for a second and then exclaimed, "Why yes! That's Miss Feferi to you! Haha, just pulling your fin. You can call me anything at all, but I can't guarantee a response! I guess it's best to call me Feferi, then."

"Do you by any chance know of an Eridan Ampora?" Terezi asked, glad this conversation seemed to be going in a spiral and not a circle.

"Oh, him! He's alright, I guess. A bit of a flirt but that's okay because he's too sleazy to get anyone! He's my moirail but I'm thinking of breaking it off. Keeps saying he wants us to be 'more than fronds'. Too upfront if you know what I mean. No filter."

"Uh.... Okay. So are you the special transfer student? I guess you aren't really 'off the spectrum' but there can be only a handful of fushia bloods at a time..."

Feferi chuckled.   
"Who, little old me? No, no, no! The one you're looking for is Karkat. Over there, sitting by himself. He's got... Grey blood? How singular!"

Nepeta and Feferi turned their heads to the corner of the cafeteria and Terezi turned her nose. The short troll was hunched over his lunchtray as everyone gave him worried or taunting glances from afar. Terezi was quite drawn to his smell. It was like her red chalk. Cherries and candy, was what it smelt like. She snapped back into reality when Nepeta started talking to Feferi.

"Karkat, hey? I thought it was Carp. That's even better, though. I can call him Karkitty."

Feferi bubbled, if that was possible.

Terezi got up and the two didn't notice. She didn't mind. She thought they were quite cute together. Most of all, they could understand the never-ending fountain of words that poured out of their mouths.

Terezi decided that she would leave them alone and go sit next to this 'Karkitty'. If only to smell him.


	2. It's Not Eavesdropping if You're Dead

"Hey Karkat! Is this seat taken?" Terezi asked as she neared Karkat's table. Of course it wasn't, he was the only one there. Karkat jumped when he heard his name.

"What the fuck- oh, yeah, it's fucking taken! Are you fucking blind or something? All my invisible fucking bitches laid out over here, sorry, no fucking space for you! But here, you can put down your fucking name here, on the fucking 'Sit with me' list that's fucking invisible just like all my fucking friends!" Karkat yelled so loud Terezi was afraid his tonsils might jump right out of his mouth and fall in his spaghetti.

"I am blind, Karkles." She replied calmly and smiling inwardly at how adorable Karkat was up close.

"Who let you use that asshole of a nickname? Wait, how the fuck do you even know my name? And I don't believe you for a single nooksniffing second! How could you get over here if you were fucking blind?"

"I followed your scent, dummy!" Terezi laughed and leaned over to take the apple slices off his tray.

Karkat glared at her. "What the fuck? That's just weird- that's- that's just prostitution, that's what that is! Now if you still haven't gotten the fucking hint, the seat is not taken and I don't fucking want it to be taken and you can suck a bulge for all I care!"

Most of the other trolls in the cafeteria had turned towards the commotion. Karkat's voice sure traveled far.

Terezi was absolutely unfazed by his outburst, however. She had gotten worse from Latula's matesprit, Mituna, who had a few screws loose to put it lightly. She cackled and took a seat next to him to get closer to his apple slices. Karkat hissed and scooted away. "I just fucking told you to get lost!" He said, moving his tray away before Terezi could pinch his cold block of "pasta" as well.

"Oh come off it Karkles. I just wanted to have a civil conversation with you!"  
"Civil mcfucking shrivel! Go away!"  
"What colour is your blood?"  
"You asshat!"  
"Is it really grey?"  
"If I say yes, will you fucking leave me alone?"  
"No, because then I would ask you why you lied."  
"What the fuck?"  
"I can smell the color of your blood, Karkles! It's-"

All heads were turned in their direction except Nepeta and Feferi who were busy playing a heated round of Go Fish. Karkat shoved his hand into Terezi's gaping mouth and rushed them both outside. They sprinted over the football field and behind the classrooms. Terezi whacked Karkat repeatedly on the head with her cane but he kept on. Finally, they stopped near the rubbish bins and Karkat took his fist out of her mouth, wiping her slobber on his sweater and grimacing. Terezi felt her jaw and slumped on the side of a bin, tired from their recent expedition.

"Okay, I don't know what's up with you, but NEVER mention my blood colour to anyone, do you fucking hear me?!" He yelled at her.  
"A bit too well." Terezi mumbled, sticking her fingers into her ears.  
"Good. Fucking good!" Karkat turned to leave. Then he turned. Terezi looked up at him.

"Just so I know you're not playing a trick on me- and you'd better not be or I will fucking fillet you alive- but what colour is my blood?"

Terezi stared at him with her useless eyes and then started cackling wildly. She stood up and started to ruffle his hair. Karkat tried to move away but winced at a sudden pain from the more-violent-than-he-had-expected cane drubbings. Terezi removed her hand and held it up for him to see. 

"Red, Karkles!" She exclaimed. "The most beautiful, luscious, heart-stopping, breath-hitching, stomach-fluttering red you'd ever never seen!"

 

...

 

Karkat gave her a look of disgust. He felt his bleeding skull and looked at the few streaks of blood on his hand. He started to wipe it off on his sweater but though twice before he turned and wiped it on the wall instead.

"Don't ever fucking talk to me." Karkat grumbled.

He turned away again and stomped off back to lunch. Terezi followed his scent with her nose until it became mingled in with the rest of the school before turning to sniff the crusting blood on her hand as she slumped down once more against the rubbish bin.

She tried to get up. Then she stopped. The situation was useless. There was some sort of emptiness in the pit of her stomach. Terezi's thoughts were all in a muddle. What had just happened? She absent-mindedly felt the eye groves on her dragon cane with the tips of her fingers and let out a huge sigh.

"What a great first day of tenth grade this is." She thought out loud. At times like these Nepeta would come console her, or Kanaya would put her arm around her shoulder and go full-on Fussyfangs on her, or Vriska would burn down a building to try and make her feel better.  
But Nepeta was with her new friend Feferi and Terezi didn't mind. She thought they were quite cute together, really.

Vriska was sick at home. Terezi searched her pockets for her phone so she could text her moirail and tell her off for being a massive butt, then she remembered that she had left it in her locker before lunch. She regarded this fact as she held the huge ball of lint she had extracted from her pocket. Maybe Terezi could sneak out of school through the secret hole in the wall they had found together? She stood up using her cane for support and lumbered over to the school fence. A small smile creeped it's way on to her face and tugged at the corners of her lips at the good memories of their escapades to the ice-cream shop across the street in eighth grade.

Then it vanished.

Had that hole always been so small? There was no way she could ever fit through there. Terezi suddenly looked up, afraid someone might see her through the windows of the classrooms. She relaxed when she realised on such a warm day the air conditioners would be on. All the same she plodded back to the shade of the rubbish bins and sat back down.

_____  
Terezi snapped back to attention when she felt a stirring in the bin next to her. Curious, she stood up on tiptoe to peek inside. The lid was open. "Who the hell?" She thought.

Two highschoolers were lying at the bottom with all the rubbish. One had shocking green hair and the other had purple hair, spun meticulously into drills. Their corpses were settled onto each other, their red mutant blood mingling on the bottom.

Terezi looked up at the top balcony and saw the long orange ponytails of Osana, a girl she had been unfortunate enough to bump into last year, until suddenly they disappeared with a yelp followed by a large quantity of blood spurting over the railings. Terezi quickly jumped out of the way and the brunt of it landed on Kokona and Midori's corpses. She looked up again, just in time to see a pair of teal ponytails curled perfectly into springs at the bottom vanish and the plod of footsteps fading away with evil, insane laughter.

Terezi took out her phone (which had magically reappeared in her hand because reasons are stupid) and, with no other logical thing to do, took a picture of the green-haired girl.

Send? It asked. With nothing better to do she tapped yes.

A text message immediately popped up on the screen.

InfoChan [IC] started texting GallowsCalibrator [GC] at 12:03

IC: Good job, but please don't send me this stuff. I don't need it.

GC: WH4T TH3 H3LL 1S TH1S?

IC: You know very well.

GC: >: [

GC: NOT R34LLY.....

IC: You are supposed to kill Osana. But I suppose she is dead now. Saki killed her just then, if you can recall. You must send me a picture of her corpse to complete the task.

GC: WH4T?

IC: Uh, do you have amnesia? Don't you remember your mission?

GC: M1SS1ON?

IC: You were to kill Osana. You know, the obnoxious one with the long ponytails?

GC: H3R? SH3S D34D 1 TH1NK

GC: H3R MUT4NT BLOOD W4S 4LL OV3R TH3 PL4C3

GC: H3Y 1S TH1S JUST 4 J4P3

GC: SP1LL1NG TH3 S4M3 COLOUR BLOOD 4S MY S3NP41S OV3R M3

GC: YOU OUGHT TO KNOW 1TS NOT FUNNY

IC: I... I don't know what you're talking about.

GC: UGH!

GC: JUST H3R3'S A P1CTUR3 OF TH1S CORPS3

GC sent IC the file W31RD_D34D_G1RL.jpg

GC: DO YOU KNOW WHO TH1S 1S?

IC: Of course. I know everyone. They don't call me Info-chan for nothing. But, come to think of it... I don't know you.

GC: 1M T3R3Z1

IC: It doesn't really matter. I'll find out quickly.

IC: Done.

GC: UH

IC: Anyway, here is everything I know about Kokona Hakura.

IC sent GC the file kokona.hakura.txt

GC: TH4TS PR3TTY CR33PY

GC: WH4T 4BOUT H3R?

GC sent IC the file OTH3RD34DG1RL.jpg

IC sent GC the file midori.gurin.txt

GC: OK4Y....

GC: SORRY 1NFOCHAN BUT

GC: YOU CR33P M3 TH3 FUCK OUT

GC: 1M GO1NG TO L34V3

IC: Goodbye.

GC: >: [

GallowsCalibrator [GC] stopped texting InfoChan [IC] at 12:07

...

okay enough yandere simulator interjections i just thought this fanfiction should have more senseless shit in it because i did label it as comedy (if that can be counted as comedy ; P) anyway let's hope i dont turn this into sadstuck aha  
_____

Where was Kanaya? She was probably off galavanting with her matesprit, Rose. The more Terezi thought of it, the more she realized that everyone around her seemed to be finding love. Vriska had John (it was kind of hard to tell between those two). Nepeta had Feferi (she hoped). Kanaya had Rose. Terezi had...

A splitting migraine took possession of her mind.

Terezi fell to the ground in a heap. Her sharp, tapering fingernails pressed hard against her temples in vain. Strange thoughts deluded her brain as each pulse of her heart shook her more. Thoughts like you are alone, nobody loves you, everybody hates you, (you should go and eat some worms :D comedy tag remember), stop pretending, you're nothing...

You're nothing...

Nothing at all.

Teal tears fell from the teal seer's eyes.

That's all they've ever been good for.

Streaming now. Cascading across her face. Landing in an almost silent pitter-patter on the cold ground. The scent of her own sorrow blocked the horrid smell of the rubbish nearby.

Her glasses slipped off and landed loudly on the ground, clink clank. She opened her eyes but saw nothing but the teal from her tears. Her headache worsened. Racking through her poor body. Making her sore all over.

She became conscious of another ache. One ten times worse than a headache. One deep down in her chest. One that got stronger with each second until it seemed to consume her.

A heartache.

She began to feel new emotions for the first time in her worthless life. Embarrassment, for her recent scene with Karkat and for the present state of her now. Rage (Gamzee gtfo), about her being so pathetic.

Loneliness.

About...

Being alone. (>:?) (comedy tAG)

Her dragon cane lost balance of the bin beside her and toppled on top of her. She flinched when the beak dug into her side, but wasn't strong enough to move it away. It eventually slipped off with her heavy breathing and landed on the floor with a dull thud.

The bell rang for fourth period. Lunch was over.

Terezi half-hoped for Nepeta and Feferi to come searching for her. They were probably to busy to bother though. She would have done the same.

What was her next class? She neither knew or cared. Alternian? She remembered now. Alternian Literature with Nepeta. 

 

...  
Quick, let's see if we've got the same schedule!

Okay, here's mine!

Uh... Aw.. You're taking Korbian this year, that's why. You should switch languages, Korbian's boring.

You're boring... Hey, but we've got the same Alternian Literature class though! After lunch!

Pawsome!

Pawsome? That's so cliche!

You're so much of a fuddy-duddy, that's what!

But hey, Alternian is going to be the only lesson I look forward to this year!

Me too!  
...

 

Terezi's sore temples were so raw they felt like they might bleed soon. Terezi didn't think she would be missed in English. Nepeta would have her new friend, and even if she didn't she could easily make another one.

How many friends had Terezi made today? None. And what happened to her one failed attempt?

"Uh, hello."

Terezi was too tired to jump, even though she was very surprised. She tried to stay still and hope this person would go away.

"What are you doing?"

The voice seemed so emotionless (lolol I bet you can guess it now right).

"Go away."

The troll knelt down in front of her.

"No."

Terezi opened her eyes as the troll started wiping her tears with a handkerchief. She hoped when this intruder saw her awful red eyes she would get scared and leave. That's what everyone did. Probably what Karkat would do too.

She did nothing.

"These are your glasses, I hope." she said, giving them to Terezi.

Her persistence angered Terezi and she sat up and fast as possible, shoving her spectacles on. This was a bad idea. The quick rushing of blood down her body caused her headache to get worse again. She took her knees under her chin and rested her forehead on them.

"That wasn't wise, was it?"

Terezi raised her throbbing head up angrily. "Who are you and what makes you-"

She sniffed.

The troll's eyes were closed. Her long, untidy curls gathered around her legs, which were folded neatly under her.

"Are you blind too?" Terezi asked.

"No."

"Then why are your eyes closed?"

She put her hand on Terezi's. It was freezing cold.

She smiled slightly and opened her eyes.

"You're real pretty, you know." The troll said.

Terezi, however, had pulled back. She backed into the wall.

"Where- where are your eyes?" She cried. For instead of regular eyes or even Terezi's red orbs the troll stared back at her big, white pools of nothing. Terezi was silenced by the other troll putting a clammy finger to her lips. She pointed to one of the windows above them.

"They'll hear you. I'm dead."

Terezi had had enough of this charade. It had done nothing but worsen her migraine. She flopped back down, regretting ever responding to this prankster.

"You're going to the nurse."

"You're going to leave me alone."

She floated up, stuck out her feet and landed on them. Her skirt was old-fashioned and very tattered, with enough pieces missing to almost render her scandalous ( ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) comedy tag (if circumstances were different i could say guten tag (or gluten tag as a food pun))).

The dead troll raised her hand and Terezi was pulled up a metre into the air. She flailed around and squealed, "MY MUM IS A LAWYER!"

The troll released her telekinetic grip on Terezi and she landed on her feet.

"You're going to the nurse."

Terezi glared at her.

Her abductor turned and walked away. Terezi was compelled to walk behind her, grabbing her cane before she left.

Groaning, she followed the other troll reluctantly towards the nurse's office.

Sniffing closely, she saw the young woman's feet never touching the ground at times, sometimes sinking right into it. Was she really a ghost? It seemed certain now. She opened her mouth to apologise but the troll turned, smiled and said, "You are forgiven."

"I-"

She... winked.

They arrived at the building the nurse was in and stopped in front. "Go on." The troll said and seemed to teleport a bit behind Terezi.

"Wait!" Terezi said, turning to her.

The girl looked at her, tilting her head silently.

"What's your name?"

"Aradia."

Then she disappeared.

Aradia. Aradia? Aradia. She could remember the name from somewhere. From primary school. Not one of her close friends back then, but maybe an acquaintance.

Terezi couldn't take anymore information. She clutched her head with one hand and grasped her cane in the other, feeling her way into the office.

Ms. Paint, the nurse, rushed up to her.

"Oh, dear, what's wrong? Broken bone? Why are you so dusty? Is it your eyes? I've got your eyedrops from your mum. Or is it something else? I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong! You do look awfully tired, that's for sure. Here, have a little lie-down. Come come, take off your shoes. I'll put your cane right here, alright? Now, please tell me what's wrong!"

"I've got a splitting headache."

"Well, how about some glue? Ha ha! Laughter is always the best medicine. Alright dearie I'll get you some Panadol and if you aren't better in a bit we'll call your mum, yes?" (*gross sobbing* comedy tag...)

Terezi nodded weakly and Ms. Paint left to get the Panadol. She sighed and sank her head deeper into the pillow. She liked Ms. Paint, but she just couldn't tell her the real reason she was here.

She couldn't tell her about Karkat.

She couldn't tell her about the way he yelled at her or how he had condemned her from speaking to him ever again.

 

She couldn't tell her about how she loved him but he had never noticed it.

 

 

She couldn't tell her how she had forgiven him as soon as he yelled at her. 

 

 

 

She couldn't tell her about the dead girl who had been sitting around the other side of the bin and listening.

 

 

 

 

 

She couldn't tell her she had a broken heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so, whoops. i made it sadstuck  
> oh well i promise it will be funny next time. i think. i guess. i have no inspiration now. its because i have a fever and its 1:00 AM now. nyeh. terezi is so cute. i hate myself
> 
> an alternate title would be omae wa mou shindeiru
> 
> watch me get very emo and depressed at the end! also yandere simulator! im deceased!
> 
> hahahahahah!!!!!!!!  
>  


	3. A Call of Duty

"Terezi! Wassup?"

Latula ran straight through the infirmary door. Ms. Paint, who had been asleep at her desk, woke up with a start and glared at the intruder.

"What's this racket in my office?" She scolded. Latula gave her a peace sign.

"Yo, nurse-o! I'm the rad Latula Pyrope, here to pick up my rad lil sist-o!"

Then, Mituna crawled into the room on his hands and knees. He collapsed to the ground and Latula picked him up by his armpits and gave him a smooch on the visor of his helmet. He made a sort of buzzing sound and turned into putty, slipping out of her grasp and crumpling back into a purring heap.

"And is this another patient? Please get off the floor dearie, I haven't mopped it since last school year!" Ms. Paint tried to get Mituna on his feet but he stuck his forked tongue out at her and curled into a tight ball, muttering profanities. Latula cackled.

"So um, I'll sign all your papers and that rad stuff and we'll be off, kay?"

Ms. Paint gave Mituna a look much dirtier than her floor before looking at her book.

"You said you were Latula, no? Terezi's mom is Redglare. I'm terribly sorry dear, but a legal guardian must come pick up their child. Unless you have a note?"

Latula snapped her fingers and bent down to off Mituna's helmet. She ripped off a slip of paper taped to the inside and Mituna shrieked, clutching his head. Latula put replaced his helmet and he relaxed and started to suck his thumb. She straightened up and handed the nurse the paper.

"Here ya go!"

Ms. Paint reluctantly took the slobbery note and glanced at the illegible handwriting. "Alright." She sighed before shouting in the direction of the white shower curtain surrounding her patient's bed, "Terezi? Terezi, your sister is here to take you back home!"

Terezi was in a dead faint.

Latula cackled. "No problem, m'am! I can handle this lot! Have a rad day!" She nudged Mituna with her shoe and he sprung up to salute her. Then she took Terezi by the waist and flipped her over onto her shoulder like a pancake.

"Onwards march, soldiers!" Latula hollered. Mituna turned on his heel, stumbled, righted himself and marched out of the office. Latula turned to Ms. Paint, waved, and stepped out after him.

Ms. Paint closed the door behind them, sighed, went to the cabinet, took a Panadol tablet, fizzed it in some water, chugged the lot, started towards her desk, turned a hundred and eighty degrees, went to the hospital bed, slipped her shoes off, laid down, heaved a huge sigh and closed her eyes.

...  
A/N: ms paint won that long sentence contest  
...

After pausing at Terezi's locker and picking the lock to get her bag out, Mituna, Latula and Terezi went to the parking lot and located their little teal Vespa. Latula strapped her helmet on and helped the still asleep Terezi with hers. After a short tantrum about nothing being able to wear a second helmet, Mituna got on behind Terezi and stretched his arms around his matesprit's waist, sandwiching the dozing girl between them. Latula checked the rear-view mirror to see if her sister was secure before she turned on the ignition and puttered off.

Upon their arrival at Pyrope's Place, it had started to rain quite a bit. The air was dense with humidity and Mituna tingled with every raindrop that fell on him. Latula parked the motorbike and heaved Terezi back over her shoulder. Then she and her fianceé walked gloved hand in gloved hand into the building. Porrim was still on her receptionist shift for another hour, so when Terezi normally came home in a bit later she would have time for a quick snack and some homework before her own shift. Porrim raised her eyebrow high into her hairline at the sight of the trio, but Latula made single-pistols (her other hand was steadying Terezi on her shoulder) at her and the confused young lady made double pistols (and a ;) ) back.

"I w-w-wanna play Call of D-D-Duty now-w!" Mituna cried when they left the lobby.

"Oh you're on, babe!" Latula said and they went into her room together. Terezi was laid on her bottom bunk and Latula and Mituna plugged in the console.

...  
A/N: ive never played this call of duty game and it's probably single-player on a computer lolol  
oh well it's the only game I could think of off-hand that included guns (it includes guns right?) because you're a black cop? call of duty black cops, yes? I should stop talking before I trigger someone (because guns and kankri) ;P

edit: okay so i asked a friend and when he finally pulled his head out of the ceiling he calmly explained (while almost breaking my wrist) that it was call of duty black ops which makes even less sense because what on earth are ops  
...

 

Terezi awoke to the sound of a horrible, shrill scream, to which she retaliated with one of her own. Latula rushed over to her.

"What was that about, sis? Bad dream?"

"What was that scream?" Terezi asked anxiously.

Latula laughed and Terezi glared at her.

"That was Mituna getting angry about dying for the twenty-second time in a row, haha!" Latula said, pointing over to the scoreboard on the TV screen.

Terezi was silent for a bit, then started laughing with her sister.

"I don't thee- thee- THEEEEE anythinh f-f-funny about thith, you th-th- THWO!" Mituna screeched, throwing the controling hand thing on the ground.

Latula stopped laughing and went over to him.

"Aw, sorry babe, we didn't mean to upset you or nothin'. Here, let's play another round and I'm sure you'll win!"

Mituna begrudgingly picked up his controller doodad thingamafrick whatcamacallit up and pressed 'Start New Game'. Latula purposefully selected the worst character and worst weaponry, giving Mituna tips on choosing the best ones. Then in the middle of a fight she pretended to fumble and drop the hand holding remote thing and slid it under the bed.

"Aw man, no!" She cried, pretending to sound distressed. "I've lost the hand-held remote for gaming device!"

Mituna looked over at her. "Okay, I'll w-wait for you to find it." He said, putting his gameplay utensil down.

Latula poked her head under the bed. "God, I hope you don't take advantage of the situation and kill me while I'm vulnerable!" She called from under Terezi, who was cackling loudly and watching the events unfold with a stick of chalk pressed between her teeth.

"Oh, don't w-w-worry, Latula!" Mituna chirped, "I'd never do t-that!"

Latula's sigh was so loud Terezi could hear it from above her mattress. "Gee," Latula tried again, "it would be so easy to kill me now, Tunes! Just get closer to my character and use your rad special attack and I'll be dead! Terezi, kill me please."

Terezi got Mituna's attention by throwing her chalk at his helmet. "Hey, why don't you kill her now when she can't move her character? Then you'll win this round!" She said.

Mituna gave up trying to snap the stick of chalk in half and stared at Terezi. "Yeah, t-that th-th-THOUNDTH like a g-good idea-a!" He said thoughtfully and maneuvered his character over to Latula's one with much difficulty.

"Yeah, Tez! That sounds like a radical idea!" Latula moaned exasperatedly. "Try that, Mituna!"

"Lat?" Mituna asked.  
"Yes, babe?" Latula replied, shuffling out backwards from under the bed with her misshapen, interactive keyboard.

"W-Where's my thpecial?"

Latula gave up and threw a grenade on herself. The words GAME OVER - MITUNA WINS flashed on the screen.

"Ahaha! I won! I'm the b-b-betht! You thuck at thith game, Lat!"

Latula put down the button implanted device and hugged him.

"B-B-But you're the b-b-bethtetht (bestest) matethprit in the w-whole entire w-w-world!"

"And don't I know it, babe."

Terezi had almost forgotten about her troubles until they mentioned the word 'matesprit'. Sadness jabbed at her heart and she got up to leave them in peace. Latula and Mituna didn't notice her leave.

In the lobby, Porrim was just putting on her coat. She saw the wretched girl and opened her mouth to say something, but then closed it. Terezi bumped into her because she was busy admiring the very nice tiling on the floor. Porrim spoke.

"Terezi, don't tell me what happened because I know you don't want to talk about it. But here."

She reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a small tube. It was lipstick.

"I, um, I'm not to fond of this bright colour and I thought you might like it. Oh, I know it's not your thing but you can do whatever with it. Use it on your walls instead of chalk maybe? I think it's a bit harder to get off though. I'm rambling again. I guess I'll go. Feel better soon, dear."

She pressed the black cylinder into Terezi's hand and put on her hat. Poking her hooked horn through the hole and looking at her little pocket mirror, she stepped out into the rain.

Terezi sniffed after her, then flopped down on the receptionist chair. She was still so tired. She opened the lid of the lipstick and twisted the bottom. It was bright red. She recapped it quickly, not screwing the lipstick down so it got squashed by the lid before tossing it carelessly into the desk drawer before falling asleep once more in her seat. 

...

She was in second grade. Redglare yelled at her in the car.

"Terezi! Stop moseying around back there and get out! We're already late and I've got to take Latula to school before my case today!"

Terezi shoved her shoes on and jumped out of the door. She didn't have the strength to close it, so Latula did it for her. Her sister tried to wave to her but Redglare had gone speeding down the road before she could raise her hand. Terezi clicked her cane around and went to the back of the school.  
She skipped over onto the playground and sniffed around eagerly. Not even Redglare could deminish her excitement today. It was her wedding day.

...  
A/N: lol who doesn't do this in second grade  
answer: my lonely ass  
...

Terezi Pyrope was getting married to Dave Strider.

...  
A/N: I'm sorry I'm just so so sorry  
...

Trolls and humans went to the same primary schools to learn how to read and write. However, they went to different secondary schools to study the subjects unique to each race. Plus, humans squirmed when they saw grubsauce. Bunch of goddamn pansies.

This was why Nepeta, Vriska, Tavros, John, Jade and Dave were waiting for Terezi as she clicked her way over to them. Her soon-to-be husband was talking to his other male friends. Jade and Nepeta rushed over to her and gave her an art smock that was slightly crusted with paint and a cut out bit of mosquito net. Vriska stayed in the back, fuming about having to wear a smock and hold a flower because she was the bridesmaid.

Nepeta pulled the plastic smock over Terezi and stuck the netting around her head, her horns keeping it still. Jade picked a few flowers from the bushes and handed them to her.

Then they started the ceremony.

Dave stood with John, his best bro (he insisted on calling him that) with a dinky little clip-on tie stuck on his school uniform, his bright red eyes still showing and his face positively beaming.

Nepeta was the priest. Tavros and Terezi were standing five metres away. They didn't know what role Tavros had in this, but in all the clips of weddings they'd watched a bride always seemed to have some old bag with her so they decided Terezi must have one too. Jade played her flute behind them and Vriska trudged along with her squashed daisy. Jade had tried to learn something more suitable for the occasion but could only play 'Mary Had a Little Lamb' with much difficulty. After a few tries she settled with just holding notes until she was blue in the face.

Terezi walked, arms linked with Tavros. "I-I-I'm nerv-v-vous..." He muttered.

Terezi laughed. "It's not like you're going to do anything! Just walk down the aisle with me."

"T-T-That's the prob-blem...."

They restarted, Tavros squeaking along in his rusty wheelchair next to Terezi. Vriska gave him a hard time for being such a wuss. At least he didn't scream when he asked what was in the grub dip.

...  
A/N: i mean come on its in the name  
...

"It does make mew look more stately!" Nepeta said.

"Yeah, a lot more like that old phoney we always see next to her." Vriska added. 

...  
A/N: ive made too many author notes in this chapter  
...

Terezi and Tavros made their way towards Dave, John and Nepeta, Vriska and Jade shuffling behind them. All the other kids in the playground gathered around to see the procession. The girls cheered and the boys pretended to gag and returned to play more football. Dave stuck his tongue out at their backs. John looked wistfully at the other boys' fun but snapped back to attention at a sharp poke in the ribs.

Terezi reached them and Vriska threw down her wilted plant and joined the football game. John followed. Jade was tired from playing her flute and went in to get a drink of water. Tavros forgot to put the break on his wheelchair and rolled slowly across the slightly slanted ground and out of the front gate.

Nepeta pulled out a torn out page from a notebook and read, "Dave Elizabeth Strider, do you take Terezi Pyrope to be your roarfully wedded wife?" Dave nodded.

"Terezi Pyrope, do you take Dave Elizabeth Strider to be your roarfully wedded wife?" Terezi and the other students who were still watching chortled. Nepeta realized her mistake and quickly said, "I mean, your lawfully wedded husband?"

"Lawfully? Sure!" Terezi laughed.

Nepeta presented them with two new rolls of tape. Each person slipped one on their left ring finger and all the girls oohed. The 'rings' were much too big and kept falling off.

"I pur-pounce you man and wife!" Nepeta said, "You may kiss the bride." Dave gave a slight grimace but Terezi kissed him on the cheek. Some people cheered and some people made retching noises. Terezi threw her sad bouquet of flowers into the crowd and all hands reached up for it. It was caught by a quiet little girl named Aradia. She smiled wide.

After all was said and done the quiet troll came up to them, pulling along a boy named Sollux with mismatched glasses. "I'll be having my funeral procession- I mean wedding procession tomorrow." Aradia said, waving the flowers around.

Nepeta giggled with glee. "Oh goodie!" She exclaimed.

Meanwhile Terezi and Dave tottered hand-in-hand to their class. They talked a lot and got to know each other well. But they never talked about being married. Three more years flew by and were gone. They had to go their separate ways to separate high schools.

...

Terezi awoke by the sound of a buzzer. Redglare was calling her. The buzzer had been installed for her mother to call for a secretary to her room.

It rang again. Terezi knew better than to keep her mum waiting. She jumped out of the chair and bounded down the hallway linked to the lobby.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> do you get the title i thought i was quite brilliant but i hate myself


	4. The Rad Miles

Terezi burst into the study as Redglare had her finger poised over the button, about to press it a third time.

"Terezi. I see you're well again." She said, her voice abruptly cold and her eyes abruptly narrowed behind her red spectacles. Terezi realised her mother had been expecting Porrim. She had never summoned Terezi when she was on her shift.

"I'm, uh, quite well now. Uh, thank you." She muttered, hoping she was loud enough to hear and trying to keep herself on her feet.

"Did I stutter?"

"No, I'm sorry."

"Well," Redglare sighed, "As long as you're here, take a letter. Although I admit I shall probably have to get Latula in. Your shorthand has never been proved decent." She raised a tapering finger towards a stately looking desk with a jar of black ink and pen aligned neatly next to a stack of crisp parchment placed on top.

Terezi nodded and carefully pulled the chair out, glancing up nervously at her mother when a leg scrapped lightly on the polished hardwood floor. She took the fountain pen in one hand and filled it with ink while Redglare drummed her fingers impatiently on her own desk. The ink was putrid. It smelt like someone had dunked Vriska into a vat of angry and quite possibly pubescent octopi. Too scared to chuckle at the thought, Terezi looked up at her mother, the signal that she was ready.

"Alright, write exactly as follows. You can write, can't you? Well, we'll just have to see. Dear Judge Limemuzzle."

...  
A/N: lol btw Congressman Limemuzzle is my scalemate name no stealing >: [  
...

Terezi tried her best to smell her way across the page, but the overwhelming scent of ink was throwing her off. Her headache wasn't helping matters, either.

"You got that?" Redglare asked, thumbing through the pages of a worryingly large law volume as she spoke. "Dear Judge Limemuzzle, I would like to bring this case to you that I am sure will be of much interest. My client has been sold a decrepit, moth-eaten coat upon false claims and wishes that the dealer should be brought to the attention of the court as it is too awful to walk down the street in. Also, please note that my client is a working girl and a citizen. Naturally, she cannot afford to pay for a coat that's hair is already falling out, sign it Redglare Pyrope, attorney at law. Give it here."

Terezi hastily scribbled her mum's name as neatly as possible and handed it to her to sign. She then turned to leave, but her mother pulled her back.

"I'll have to approve this before you go out. Stay there."

Redglare skimmed over the letter. Her face grew teal with anger and she clutched the side of her desk so hard it looked like she might leave a dent in the redwood. Terezi stepped back, wondering what she could have done wrong.

Redglare handed the paper back to her, seething with resentment. "Read it." Was all she said.

Terezi sniffed at the words but then Redglare yelled, "Aloud, you fool!" and whacked her fist on the desk.  
Terezi jumped and started to recite the letter.

"Um... Dear Judge Limemuzzle, um..." Her keen nose sniffed the next line and she froze. Good god.

"Yes, dear?" Redglare dragged the words out slowly, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Don't stop now."

"You have sold my client a fur coat that is worthless and too awful for a working girl who is, um... who is d-decrepit and m-moth-eaten. She is a citizen and her hair is... falling out... and when she walks down the street she doesn't... get any attention from the police....." Terezi trailed off, unable to read anymore.

Redglare ripped the letter out of her hands, giving her painful papercuts that ran from her palms to her fingertips.

"Do you think my law practice is a joke? Do you want me to send this letter and lose my client? Lose the money she is willing to pay for my hard work? The money I will use to clothe your worthless back and feed your worthless mouth? Is that what you want?"

"N-N-No, mum... I'm so very sorry... It was the strong smell of the ink... I-It threw me off. I can take another if you would like..."

Reglare was silent, a thing which Terezi found so much worse than her scolding. What was she doing? Terezi dared not sniff to find out lest she be punished for her rudeness. Then she heard the crumbling of paper as her mum twisted and contorted the letter and threw it into the bin under her desk.

"Get out!" Redglare spat, the teal rising into her cheeks. "Get me Latula! Don't ever come back in here. The next time I ring, tell Latula to come! Never set foot in here again! Now leave!"

Terezi ran back to the writing desk and grabbed her cane. Redglare shifted behind her. Terezi knew what was coming. She dashed out of the room and the door was slammed shut behind her by the huge law volume that barely missed her head.

She didn't stop. She ran to her room and flung open the door, tears streaming down her face for the second time in mere hours. Latula wasn't there. Mituna was, curled up on Latula's top bunk and sucking his gloved thumb. The glow from the television screen was all that lit the messy room. Terezi sighed and ran to the kitchen. Latula was in there making their dinner. She saw Terezi's teal streaked face and rushed over from her pot of mashed potatoes.

"Aw sis, what's wrong?" She asked, cuddling Terezi as close as her wet apron would allow.

"Quick Latula. Redglare wants you to take shorthand. She called me but... but I'm so useless and-" she stopped.

"Terezi don't you ever say that about yourself!" Latula exclaimed. "You're the smartest girl I know by a radical mile! We'll talk more later, I'd better see what mum wants." She unfastened her apron and threw it on the counter. Then she ran out of the kitchen. Terezi smelt the burning potatoes and turned the heat nozzle, not knowing she had actually turned it up to the maximum. She found out the hard way, by burning herself. She turned the heat off and plodded heavily back to her chair in the lobby.

Terezi licked the blood off her papercuts to soothe them but only succeeded in making them sting more. She cried and cried. Latula didn't come back out, but she heard hearty laughter echoing tauntingly from the study. Latula was obviously the family favourite. Hell, she was the world's favourite. So rad and kind and caring. As for her? No one liked her, let alone loved her. There was Redglare, Karkat....

Her thoughts were interrupted by a new person opening the bug double doors and stepping into the lobby. She knew him from her childhood. It was John Egbert (Eggbutt :P) from her second-grade wedding. He didn't recognise her though.

"Oh, um, hey? I'd like a room please. On the lowest floor possible, thank you."

"How about 101?" Terezi said, trying to hide the weariness from her voice.

John noticed her raw face. "Hey, are you crying?" He asked worriedly.

John. Always the subtle one. Terezi thought.

"Oh, it's nothing you can help." She sighed, opening the key box behind her desk and taking a key off of it's hook. "First room to the left of the stairs. And I'm warning you about those stairs in advance."

"Thanks! Sorry I can't help you with your problem. If there is a way be sure to let me know. You know my address now, anyway!" John jangled his key on it's chain and went upstairs with his big blue duffel bag. Terezi heard him trip halfway and topple down into the lobby.

"I did warn you." She smirked. John smiled and got up, dusting himself off and looking nervously at the stairs that had just rejected him. He took the dumbwaiter this time. The elevator, rather.

Terezi impatiently waited out the last hour of her shift. Latula brought out her dinner and took the dirty dishes back. She knew her and Redglare eating dinner together would not end well. As the clock lazyily slid it's long hand over the elevated number 12, Terezi jumped up and raced into her room before Redglare could pass by the lobby again. She brushed her teeth and washed her tear-stained face and patted some iodine on her papercuts. Mituna was crashing on the floor tonight. He snored like an elephant with a blocked trunk, but it didn't stop Terezi from falling asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. The last thoughts to cross her mind before she closed her weary, useless eyes were:

What a fucking fantastic day this was.

And then:

Karkat, I love you. Please forgive me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> soooooo.... sorry it's so sad. it must be my flu. ive got a horrible headache and a nerve-wracking fever and im still typing this on a tiny ipod screen. ugghhhhhh I finally feel like the steaming pile of shit I really am. yay for me and self-realisation  
> : DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD
> 
> oh and the title of the chapter is from when latula says terezis the coolest person she knows by a radical mile  
> idk ive been listening to too much of monsters and men
> 
> there the only band/singers ive ever been able to endure because theyre great at all the singing and rhythms and more music words but the actual lyrical content is nonsense but everyone listens to it and their fucked up minds interpret it in some way and theyre all like shit thats deep and im just ahaha
> 
> and they name their songs after a couple of lines in the song its great


	5. Korbian

Terezi trudged through the school gates sadly, absent-mindedly clicking her cane alongside of her.

"Well, if it isn't Little Miss Sunshine!"

The scent of ink filled her nostrils. It was Vriska. She tried to turn the other way.

"Oi! You ignoring me or something? 'Cause I missed yesterday?" Vriska said, walking fast behind her.

Terezi sighed and slowed her pace, allowing Vriska to catch up to her. Terezi's bag hung low on her back and she sighed from the exhaustion.

"Dude, what's wrong?" Vriska was worried now. That was the thing about Vriska. She was normally loud and rude and obnoxious but when you showed her something was really up she was sympathetic as anything. The greatest moirail in the universe.

They walked in silence along the side of the school and entered through the side door from the track. Halfway there Vriska took off Terezi's bag and carried it for her. It wasn't the bag weighing her down, she realised. It was her heart.

They got to a dim, empty hallway and Vriska deposited her belongings in her locker, sitting her moirail's things on the floor for her to take out any books she needed for her morning classes. Terezi put her back against the lockers and slid down to the ground. Vriska squatted down next to her with her hands on her knees, waiting for an explanation.

"You heard about that kid with the mutant blood?" Terezi asked.

"Yeah, caustic character."

"I fell in love with him yesterday."

Vriska jumped in surprise.

"Dude, no way! You're a real player you know that!"

"Yeah."

"Did you tell him?"

"Yeah."

"What did he say?"

"To..." Terezi sniffled, fighting back the tears. She didn't want to cry again.

"To?" Vriska urged gently.

"To never talk to him again." The floodgates opened.

Vriska put her arm around Terezi's shoulder. She felt in her pocket and pulled out a fresh handkerchief and handed it to the sobbing girl.

"Then he just doesn't deserve you. Come on Terezi, you're a bit too rash. Waltzing up to some old crab and saying you love him-"

"Well, I didn't say that. I wanted to be at least friends. But then I said something about his blood colour and it triggered him I guess."

"Funny guy. Terezi. Look at me." Vriska twirled Terezi around on her bum and planted her other hand on Terezi's right shoulder. She stared into Terezi's sightless eyes.

"People can turn out one of two ways. There's the ones sitting on the park bench in utopia, feeding little bread crumbs to the birdies and there's the birds. And judging from how this asshole-"

"Don't call him an asshole!" Terezi interrupted angrily.

"Sorry. This- mutant blood of yours couldn't see you were ready to be the best bloody matesprit a troll could have, I'd say he was the latter."

"But Vriska, he's everything to me."

She snorted. "You only know his name - which is farther than I've gotten honestly but that's not the point - and that he's a cranky old guy with mutant blood! I wouldn't get too attached just yet."

Terezi didn't know what to say to this. Her heart still ached for Karkat. She knew only his head ached from her violent cane-drubbings yesterday.

Vriska checked her watch.

(Kankri checked his privileges.)

"The bell's gonna ring soon. Better get to class, but we can talk more later alright?"

Terezi nodded and Vriska helped her up.

They made way to their first class, Culling Law, together.

"Always nice to have a little taste of Hell to kick off the day." Terezi joked as they neared the door.

Vriska held up a hand and they high-fived.

"Getting it all over with already, see? Save your griping for someone decent this time mate."

Terezi cackled. It was almost genuine.

After learning the rules of grubsauce grub picking, Vriska walked Terezi - who was in slightly more elevated spirits than before - to Korbian class, before going next door to her Alternian Literature class. Korbian was a boring language from a boring planet derived from French roots (for some apparent reason) that the government to blow its budget on, and Terezi decided that when she got out of here she was going to go straight over to Korbia, ask for a cup of sugar and bomb the goddamn place right off the map.

The boring-looking guy who looked like the kind of guy who would want to teach such a boring language stood up at the front of the room called the class to order and began using his marker to squeak out some boring grammar rules on the board. He then ordered everyone to partner off for a little boring Korbian conversation making.

Terezi sighed. She knew no one here. No one but...

"Hello again." Aradia said, floating through a few desks and placing her books opposite to Terezi before settling down a few centimetres above the seat.

"Oh, um, hi." Terezi stuttered, looking up from her notes.

"So we're supposed to be speaking Korbian?"

Terezi glanced at the other tables. Everyone was chatting in Alternian and doing whatever they wanted. The teacher was asleep at his desk.

"Hopefully not. I don't understand it at all."

"Good. Me neither."

They talked about nothing for a while, then the subject of yesterday was brought up.

"What were you doing behind the bins yesterday?" Aradia asked.

"I..." Terezi sighed. This old story again. Impatiently, she skimmed over a few important details with Aradia and she nodded acknowledgingly.

"And what were you doing?" Terezi asked once her tale had been concluded.

"Me?" Aradia asked, looking surprised.

"Yeah."

Aradia smiled shyly.

"I was waiting for my matesprit."

Terezi remembered her reminiscent dream yesterday.

"Sollux?"

"Yeah!" Aradia exclaimed happily. There seemed to be light dancing in her white eyes for a second. "How did you know?"

"Don't you remember me from second grade? The girl who got married to Dave Strider and threw you the bouquet? You said you were going to get married tomorrow?"

Aradia lost the gleam in her eyes and they seemed duller than before. She looked away at the window.

"Did I say something wrong?" Terezi asked worriedly. As more memories unfolded in her mind she found that she couldn't recall ever seeing either Aradia or Sollux after that day.

"Oh, no. It was nothing you couldn't help anyway. Yeah, Sollux is my boyfriend from back then - well, I mean I knew him from back then - I was waiting for him to come from his house and we were going to meet there. He didn't come. I wasn't surprised."

Terezi was very interested now. She hated to admit it but she was a sucker for good gossip. One of the needed qualities for a job in crime, she guessed.

"Please tell me more!" She begged.

Aradia sighed and tried to rest her hands on the table, but they fell right through. She settled with putting them on her lap instead.

"Well, alright. Just because I've already said too much. Normally I tell people it's my caste powers that make me go weird around the material plane. They'd ask too many questions if I told them I was dead."

Terezi shifted closer as Aradia beckoned her. She lowered her voice to almost below a whisper, even though Terezi was sure none of the loud trolls were bothering to listen to the blind girl and the floating girl. With her keen ears positioned a good few centimetres away, she could still hear Aradia.

"That day when I caught the flowers I was walking home with Sollux. We were chasing each other across the street. It was careless. A car didn't notice us in the dim afternoon light - too light for headlights and too dark to see. It got us both."

She seemed to smile a bit when she talked about her death. Terezi thought it was very weird.

"Sollux was alright, except for becoming blind in one eye and getting a little fuzzy in the brain. He only got hit by the headlight. I - heh - was luckier. I was killed."

"Why do you revel in death so much?" Terezi asked.

"It's an obsession of mine. Amplified greatly by my own demise. I've always liked the study of life. How the birds hatch from their eggs and the fish swim upstream to their homeland. How the old bird is shot by the hunter and the fish is devoured by the bear as it leaps upstream."

Terezi nodded, tired of hearing about the subject. She wanted to hear more about her and Sollux.

"Sollux managed to drag me home. He thought I was still alive. My mum thanked him but told him to not bring more corpses to their house. You should have seen him cry. I did. I was there, the spirit in the room. My mum was a bit of a witch and she brought me back. But I wasn't the same. I was evil. I was locked in my room for years. Sollux came to see me everyday. He sat outside and cried as I wrecked havoc on the other side of the door. He only cried with one eye. The other had been severed off completely. He said it was his fault and he should have pushed me out of the way of the car. Then one day I stepped through the locked door. I put my cold hand on his eye-patch and said I wished I could have done the same for him. Then he looked up and I realised he could see me. Then I knelt down and kissed him. We were in ninth grade then. I've only been outside like this for a year."

Terezi found that her mouth was quite hanging open with awe. She closed it and wiped away the bit of slobber that had collected at the sides.

"That was some story."

"I guess you could say that."

"Wait, so why didn't he come yesterday?"

"With his brain trouble and all that, it's better for him to be home-schooled. He's a real technology buff. Always writing codes for something or other. He doesn't really have much time for the real world." She looked out the window again.

"I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry for you too."

"For what?"

Aradia raised her eyebrow and Terezi remembered. She had been so wrapped up in Aradia's story she forgot everything about Karkat.

Both trolls opened their mouth to speak, but the bell rang and everyone started packing up and heading for the door. The teacher was still sound asleep. No one bothered to wake him. The noisy eighth graders in the next period would do that with their spit balls and paper planes.

"Hey, does Sollux have a brother named Mituna?" Terezi asked. She could remember one of Mituna's rants about a 'Sol' who had a computer attached to his face all the time.

"Yeah! How do you know him?"

"He's engaged to my sister Latula."

"Really? He's even crazier than Sollux!"

"I know right?"

"Well when they get married and if Sollux and I get married..."

"Then we'll be related." Terezi finished.

The two trolls smiled at each other.

"And I'd absolutely love that." Aradia said as they reached the door.

Then she disappeared.

Vriska came over.

"Bonjour, ma cherie!" She crooned in a horrible French/Korbian/introllian accent. "Je m'appelle Suuuuuuuuzie." She pronounced it so it rhymed with 'floozie'. Terezi giggled.

...  
A/N: i take french and i hate it but now it's rubbing off on me   
*screams out of a window* mr. etienne you are a cow!  
anyway ma cherie means my honey or whatever and je m'appelle means my name is yey  
also korbian is a word i just came up with give it up for me  
...

"Oh la la! Take me to beautiful Paris!" Vriska pretended to swoon and fell into Terezi's arms. Korbia's biggest (and probaby boringest) country was called Paris as well. What a bunch of copycats. Boring copycats.

"So what did you learn today? Was it boring?" She asked, getting out of Terezi's face.

"That Aradia got hit by a car and died in second grade after my wedding."

"What? Wait, that wedding? I thought I was the only one nostalgic enough to remember it."

"Vriska, it was my wedding!"

"Anyway I hope you make a bit more sense in Physics. I'll be expecting a full-on explanation about this Aradia character along with the teacher's one about... the birds and the bees." She wiggled her eyebrows at her moirail.

"You're so weird." Was all Terezi said as they went into the classroom.

 

...

 

"Hey, dude. How many fingers am I holding up?" Vriska asked, spreading her hands out wide in front of Terezi's nose.

Terezi raised an eyebrow. "Ten." She took a deep breath of Vriska's dusty, calloused hands just too make sure. Yep, ten chewed up nails with dirt lodged underneath, with dots of flakey blue nail polish from a recent phase.

"Wrong!" Vriska laughed and pressed both palms into her moirails face. "Eight fingers and two thumbs!"

"Shut up."

Nepeta brought her prospective girlfriend over to Vriska and Terezi at their lunch table.

"Terezi! Where were you yesterday afternoon and this morning? Vriska, are you feeling okay?" She called, bounding over to them and pulling a wobbling, sparkling Feferi along.

Vriska gave Nepeta an 'okay' sign and Terezi heaved a huge sigh. Having to tell this story over and over again was getting on her nerves. Vriska saw Feferi.

"Well! Greetings, your Highness! I would curtsey but I'm wearing pants and in a rather comfortable seated position."

Feferi giggled. "S'chool! Get it, like a school of fish? Heheh! Anyway I don't mind being treated below my caste. It's a bit intimidating, having to drink warm leaf-water and say polite things all the time."

Nepeta laughed with Feferi and Vriska nudged Terezi.

"Looks like we've found the winners of 'Best Troll Olsen Twins' for this year."

"They're so cute together though!"

"I always thought that was Nepeta's thing to say."

Vriska interrupted Nepeta and Feferi's chatter and told them about Terezi's encounter with Karkat yesterday in her naturally loud voice. Luckily, she couldn't compete with the other screamers in the room and no one heard anything too revealing. Terezi, who had grown very bored of her tale, decided to have a little sniff around and saw her flush crush seated at the same table he had been at yesterday. This time he was on the other side, facing her. His nose two centimeters shy of scraping the top of his grubloaf.

Then he looked up.

Straight in her direction. 

Straight into her eyes.

 

 

And then quickly looked back down. 

Terezi's heart failed her. She coughed up a fit and Vriska papped her hard on the back until her little fit subsided.

Had he really just done that?

Of all the people in the cafeteria he looked at her?

The one who nearly fractured his skull yesterday?

Was it an accident? This, she knew, was not true. It had been on purpose. She smelt it in his eyes.

Was it to intimidate her?

She couldn't think.

All she knew was he was going to ask her something if they met in class.

He had told her that.

He had said they would meet in the afternoon.

She was so happy she could have died.

...

Terezi waited her next lessons through anxiously.   
She checked around every corner and looked into every classroom. But she couldn't find Karkat.

How had he told her that he wanted to speak with her? Maybe it was his caste's special power. Had he really done that? Was it all just her imagination and desperation?

Terezi shook her head, clearing those thoughts out. He had spoken to her. Through her brain. Possibly trough her eyes too. Maybe they weren't as useless as she had thought.

The bell for last period rang. Nepeta packed up her things and waved to Terezi before trotting off to Feferi, who was waiting at the door and signing notebooks for a large mob of excited lowbloods. Terezi waved after her. Then she hurriedly shoved her books under her arm and walked out of the classroom, taking her time getting to her next class to search around a bit more for the mutant troll.

She sniffed high and low for Karkat. Finally, her work paid off when she located a strong scent of cherries by the side door. Excitedly, she ran through it, outside and...

Back to the bins?

And there was Karkat, looking restless and almost ready to leave.

Terezi was about to call his name but decided against it. She slowed her pace when she came nearer to him. He only noticed her when she stopped two metres in front of him.

He shoved his hands in his pockets and looked at the ground, scruffing the dirt with his foot.

Then he mumbled, "I'm sorry."

Terezi was so confused. Wasn't she the one who was supposed to apologise?

Karkat looked up when he received no answer.

"Aw, what, is that it? I own up and say I'm sorry and you just stand there? Okay then. I guess I fucking broke you." He dig his fist into the side of his head and fell into the wall near him. "I ruined another perfect person." He turned to leave but Terezi stopped him.

"No, please! I just thought I was the one who should have apologised. So I'm sorry too. And you didn't break me!"

Karkat looked at her.

"You? Seriously? What did you do?"

Terezi felt dumbfounded.

"Me? All I did was rave on about something you were sensitive about and hit you on the head until you bled!"

"That? That's nothing at all. You didn't need to say sorry."

The two trolls stood there, looking at each other. They were at a loss for words.

Finally it got awkward for Karkat and he shifted around.

"I guess we aren't mortal enemies then?"

"Aw, just that? Then I'm back to square one though!"

Karkat looked away. Terezi sniffed silently and saw the faintest shadow of a smile creep it's way across his face. Then he turned back.

And stuck out his hand.

"Friends, then."

Terezi took his hand but they didn't shake. They just stood there again, looking at their intertwined hands. Stealing glances at each other's faces.

 

"Friends." Terezi said.


	6. Magic and Miracles and Unlit Cigarettes

"Oh. My. Gog."

Vriska grabbed the sides of Terezi's face and mushed them together. Her scrunched up face was still bearing a very noticeable grin.

"He. Fucking. Said. Whaaaaaaaat?"

"Friends, then?" Terezi repeated, and Vriska churned her face with her hands like she was kneading dough.

"You are THE most fickle troll I have ever known!" Vriska cried in dismay. "He broke your fucking heart!"

Terezi cackled, throwing her head back.

"When you say 'fuck' a lot it sounds like you're Karkat!"

"Don't compare me to him!" Vriska released Terezi and put her head in her hands.

"Are you being serious now? Like, you didn't get some crack on the way back in?"

"Why would I lie about something like that?"

"Oh, I dunno. Delusions? Desperation?"

"I can assure you it was neither."

Doc Scratch came to check their work.

"What have you been doing for the past half hour?" He exclaimed.

Terezi and Vriska looked down at the stack of empty worksheets on their table. Then they looked worriedly up at their teacher.

"Well, I do know what you're doing for the next hour after school! It'll be detention! Now get to work!" Doc Scratch went off to another table and started yelling some more.

Terezi looked at Vriska. They looked at Doc Scratch. They looked back at each other. Then they both exploded into laughter so hard it was silent. Doc Scratch didn't notice.

"Heh heh, but really, if Redglare finds out I'm toast. Can I borrow your phone, Vriska?" Terezi managed to force out between gasps.

"Sure." Vriska turned around and dug her phone out of her pack, keying in the passcode before handing it to her moirail.

...  
A/N: whats her passcode? 8888  
its about as much of a secret as karkats blood colour  
...

Terezi dialed Porrim's number. She hoped it was her number, at least. She held the speaker shut with her finger and licked the screen until someone picked up.

"Hello, this is Porrim Maryam. Who is this?"

"It's Terezi."

"Oh hey Terezi! Are you feeling okay?"

"Better than ever!"

"That's great to know! So, what did you call me for?"

"Could you stay a half hour later on your shift today please? I've got detention."

"Oh-ho, Terezi's been up to no good! Sure thing honey, but be right back at seven!"

"I will!"

Click.

Terezi gave Vriska her phone and she wiped it on her shirt before sliding it back into her bag.

"Okay, let's get to work on this packet. What is this?" Vriska asked, scanning the pages with a blank look on her face.

"I... Um... What lesson are we in?" Terezi said, her worksheet wet with spit.

"I have no idea."

They both laughed heartily until a mean glare from Doc Scratch's shiny cueball head sent them searching for their schedules.

"Alternian History!" Vriska cried, holding up her schedule.

"Okay. But we still have no idea what this is about." Terezi said, jabbing her pencil into the page.

The bell rang. School was over.

"Class, if you haven't finished the packet and turned it in to me yet it is homework due tomorrow." Doc Scratch yelled over the rush of students getting up and leaving.

Vriska and Terezi pushed their way out of the room and walked down the hall to detention.

"Tra-la-la-la-la~" Vriska sang, taking Terezi's hand and swinging it back and forth.

"Shall we go pick some berries by the bush for Grandma on the way?" Terezi said in a high voice.

"Oh, certainly! And I'll gather sweet-smelling flowers to decorate her home!" Vriska answered in an even higher voice.

"I do hope she baked us biscuits! Her oatmeal ones are the best, but not when they have raisins in them!" Terezi screeched, her vocal chords about to explode.

Then it just escalated into an opera contest to see who could shriek the highest and the longest. People turned their heads in their direction and promptly walked the other way.

Finally they made it to the detention room.

"Hello my friends I am here!" Terezi yelled as she kicked the door open with her foot.

Then she froze. Aw, Shit.

There was Eridan with his friend Gamzee. They saw Terezi and immediately started whispering.

"Yeah, losers! Scourge sisters blazing a path right through your skulls!" Vriska shouted, stepping into the room and linking arms with Terezi. Then she realized Eridan wasn't the only fishy thing in the room.

"What happened with him?" She whispered to Terezi.

"He tried to rent a room so he could hide with some of his brother's fancy records and I split his head open with my cane."

"Dude, that sounds fucking awesome!"

Gamzee turned from Eridan and walked towards the two friends. He pushed Vriska out of the way.

"Watch it, dude! I'm making a model of Death Valley in Geography and I'm figuring on using your skull for landscaping!" She spat, shoving him from the side.

"LOOK, MOTHERFUCKER. Just stay outta this." Gamzee growled at her impatiently. Both trolls were startled. It wasn't like him to talk like this. Terezi looked helplessly at Vriska as she turned and sat down at a desk, giving her an 'I'm sorry' look.

Gamzee yanked Terezi out of the room and pinned her to the other side of the wall in the empty hallway. He pressed both of those giant, clumsy hands on her shoulders, digging his long, swell-jointed fingers into her back. His chest heaved up and down slowly and his breath reeked of Faygo.

Gamzee leant in to whisper in Terezi's ear. "Was some cholrine-blooded, handicapped squirt all up and bein' a bad girl to MY MOTHERFUCKING FRIEND?" He purred.

Terezi said nothing, trying not to give away her fear. She failed. How could she? A troll she considered a good friend and could recall many a laugh with over pesterlogs had gone absolutely shithive maggots!

Gamzee chuckled grimly and lowered his face until it was inches from Terezi's. Up close she could smell his awful clown makeup which smelt like eggshells and a crusty, dried up streak of sopor slime from the last time he had had a go at the stuff. Terezi wished she had a pie that she could shove in his face. The guy needed a fix, then and there.

"The answer is motherfucking yes, and do you know what I like to do to girls that are bad?"

Terezi was terrified. The last thing she wanted was for Gamzee to become her kismesis. He would be devastated when he got back on sopor. He needed a dosing, stat. Or... Was he off it for good? She managed to choke out a few words. "Gamzee... I really don't want to do this right now..."

Gamzee smiled evilly, narrowing his reddish-yellow eyes and licking his lips. Then he hooked his arm around her neck and...

Kissed her.

Roughly. Angrily. Hatefully. He bit at her soft lips and she tried to pull away, head scraping against the wall. He shoved his tongue into her mouth and she almost gagged on it. He continued for a bit, relishing his superiority and then released her, one hand still planted right next to her ear, the other cupped around the side of her face.

Terezi wanted to hide. Her lower lip bled teal. Was there no goddamn sopor in this entire place?

Gamzee put his finger under her lip and mopped up the blood. He lifted his digit up in front of her.

"PRETTY MOTHERFUCKING COLOUR, sister."

"Get away from me!" Terezi suddenly screamed, wishing the detention teacher wasn't so late. She tried to escape but Gamzee caught her by the waist and picked her up, her legs flailing around in the air. When she grew tired of struggling he put her down again and spun her around to face him.

"Don't ever motherfucking try that again."

She nodded slightly.

"What a naughty, naughty girl. I SEE I'M GONNA HAVE TO GET MY PUNISH ALL UP AND ONTO YOU BEFORE YOU DECIDE TO PLAY NICE."

Then Terezi heard the thumping of footsteps come nearer. Someone tackled Gamzee from behind, making him hit the ground and honk gruffly. Terezi, still recovering from the terror and shock sniffed down at who her saviour was. 

It was Karkat.

"Go back inside!" He yelled angrily as she opened her mouth to thank him. At Terezi turned into the doorway she caught a glimpse out of the corner of her nostril of Gamzee springing up like a feral beast and Karkat glaring at his moirail, papping palms held out at the ready.

She ran inside to see Vriska held up high in the air by invisible hands, thrashing about wildly. Eridan was laughing manically at his captive, twirling a magic wand between his webbed fingers.

Terezi gasped in disbelief. "So magic is real!" She exclaimed.

Eridan and Vriska noticed her.

"Damn straight." Eridan replied, smiling like a devil before lifting his wand at her, about to make her suffer the same fate as her moirail.

But when he flicked his wrist, the detention teacher teleported in, coffee cup poised at her lips and a look of surprise plastered on her face as she realised where she was.

"What now just what do you think you're doing, young man?" She said angrily, snatching his wand from him. Eridan whimpered in reply.

Vriska was released from the levitation spell and fell to the floor in a heap. Terezi rushed over.

"Vriska, are you okay?" She asked worriedly, raising out a hand which Vriska denied, already sitting up by herself.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." She grumbled, feeling her the back of her head and checking to see if there was any blood. "That douchebag is a bit more powerful than I was led to believe. What did Gamzee do to you?"

"He, um... He kissed me." Terezi wiped her dribbling chin with the back of her hand.

"What? Like, red?" Vriska asked.

"No, not red!" Terezi tried to say through her stuck out tongue. Not him. Ever. Ew. "Black as night! No mistake about it!"

Vriska's smile stretched right off of her face. "God damn, mate! You're filling up quadrants like beer glasses at a bar! Must be a god damn party in there!" Her one eye danced with delight.

Terezi shook her head. "Not Gamzee. He's just off sopor, doesn't know what he's doing. Plus, I don't reciprocate! Anyway, he had me then, but Karkat came and-"

"Oh, he's really your knight (heh godtier jokes) in shining armor now isn't he?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Well, what did he do?"

"He pinned Gamzee to the floor! Tackled him right to the ground! Then he yelled at me to get inside before I could thank him."

Vriska pretended to swoon.

"Oh-ho-ho! Please, Terezi, give me his number!"

Terezi cackled. "Sorry, he's taken."

Just then the door flew open and Gamzee was chucked into the room. He crashed through a desk and landed with a bone-crunching smack and a very loud honk on a couple of tables and lay on the ground, dazed. "Mother of FUCK." He mumbled.

The teacher stopped scolding Eridan and turned to face the troll at the door.

It was...

 

 

 

...Equius.

...  
A/N: i just couldnt resist ahahahahhahahahahhahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahah gj karkat gj  
...

Nepeta appeared with Feferi next to Equius. They were both holding the bleeding, unconscious body of Karkat.

"I did think having grey blood would be a bit finny." Feferi was saying to Nepeta. She turned to Vriska and Terezi.

"A little kelp here?"

Terezi ran over to them. She knelt in front of Karkat.

"Karkat? Karkles? Karkitty?" She yelled in his ear in vain. He was out cold, a deep gash down his face which showed no sign of crusting up soon and a darkening eye.

Vriska came up to them.

"Red blood? Seriously, dude?"

Terezi glared at Vriska and she stuck her tongue out in retaliation.

"I'm taking him to the nurse." Terezi said, grabbing under his armpits and dragging him across the floor on his bum. It was hard and she kept tripping.

Nepeta, Feferi and Vriska stood there and tried not to laugh.

Equius stopped looking at Gamzee's unconscious body and looked at his moirail.

"Nepeta, what did you just make me do?" He muttered, sweating profusely.

...  
A/N: i wrote this before the song came out so no references please goddammit  
...

"Equius, stop being a fuddy duddy! He was beating up some other kid in the hallway!"

"He is higher on the spectrum! I should feel lucky that I wasn't culled!" Equius looked like he was about to drown in his own sweat and guilt (but mostly his sweat).

Feferi stepped up.

"Whale, think about it this way - you did it for Nepeta, your moirail and me, a fuchsia blood!"

She cleared her throat.

"And in reward for your valiant actions I will not cull you!" She made a movement to reach out her hand for a handshake but let it dangle at her side again when she saw how drenched Equius was.

Equius scratched his head.

"I need a towel." He mumbled quickly and trotted off, leaving his moirail and her friend to stew a large puddle of sweat.

Terezi reached the staircase to the first floor.

"Aw, fuck."

Karkat was heavier than he looked. She sniffed around to see if anyone was around, then picked her 'saviour' up bridal style and lumbered down the steep steps.

Reaching the bottom, she felt incredibly tired and laid him down before sitting behind him, leaning her back against the wall. The coolness of the concrete felt good on her spine. Terezi cracked her knuckles to get rid of the stiffness.

"What is this, a home for the agin'?" She heard someone say.

She lifted her nose to the apparent direction of the person and smelt a familar scent. There was the smell of canned tuna and desperation as well.

And something else too.

Tobacco.

"Eridan? How did you get here? And why have you got an unlit cigarette in your mouth?"

She heard a voice laugh and footsteps come closer.

The troll knelt right smack in front of her face. It was a bit too close for comfort.

"I ain't Eridan. My name's Cronus, but just call me Cro. But I'm here to pick Eri up. He's been a bad boy I heard."

Terezi stuck her tongue out. His cigarette stabbed her cheek.

"I'd rather you leave me be please."

"And vhy v-VWOULD I?" He purred with a seductiveness that sounded like he had learnt it from a magazine.

"Because you smell and sound like a greaser, you suck on unlit cigarettes like lollipops and you pronounce your w's like a llama."

Cronus threw his head back, pretending to laugh hysterically.

"A llama! Haha! That's a good one! And it's my damn speech impairment, always getting in the way of my seduction." He tried to wiggle his eyebrows but ended up blinking rapidly instead.

Terezi wondered if she could make her tongue touch her collar bone.

"No thank you." She said quickly and leapt up, smacking his chin with her knee. She took one of Karkat's arms and ran with him to the infirmary a few doors down.

"Oh dear! What happened here? Why is his blood..." Ms. Paint grimaced a bit at Karkat's deep gash.

"He's a mutant."

"Oh, really? Well, a patient's a patient to me! Help me get him on the bed will you? Oh dear, looks like he got beat up something awful."

Together they hoisted Karkat up onto the nurse bed and Ms. Paint brought out some iodine and cotton pads. Terezi tried to pour the iodine onto the cotton but missed and got it all over Karkat's face instead. She hastily mopped it up and dabbed it on his scratch before Ms. Paint came back with the Band-Aids and an ice pack.

"I could have sworn his skin was lighter."

"It must just be the light in here."

"I guess so. I may need to check my prescription though."

When the ice pack touched his face, Karkat quickly came back to his senses.

"What the fuck?"

"Hey Karkles!"

"Terezi? What happened? Did Gamzee get away?"

"No, silly! Equius - the buff guy - beat him up and I took you here!"

"Ugh, that asshole!"

"What were you thinking, tackling a guy like that?"

"I was thinking of saving you!"

Terezi stopped. Karkat groaned and felt his scratch.

"Thank you." She said, looking down at him.

"No problem."

Silence.

"Terezi?"

"Yeah?"

"Why is there yellow stuff all over my face?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i have tonsillitis


	7. Heart-Shaped Macaroons

"I have no idea."

"Oh well." Karkat shrugged it off. "I just hope it doesn't stain."

"Yeah."

Vriska came in with her usual confident stride, swinging Terezi's bag in one hand and her cane in the other.

"Lovers!" She called.

Karkat's red blush showed right through his yellow face. Terezi made a mental note to throw a brick at Vriska later.

"What the fuck is she on about?" Karkat whispered.

"I don't want to know." Terezi whispered back, getting off his bed and sitting on a nearby chair.

Vriska threw open the curtains and looked in.

"Ah, here we are! The couple of the year, and it's only the second day!"

"Shut up, Vriska." Terezi said.

"Why, don't like my company? Should I leave you two lovebirds alone? Karkat, why is your face so yellow?"

"None of your fucking business." He muttered angrily, before turning his head to Terezi.

"You can leave with her now if you'd like."

"Aw, do you need each other's permission to go places now? I can't decide whether that's cute or weird. Anyway, the teacher took Gamzee and Eridan to the principal so we're excused. You coming or what?"

Terezi got up and took her bag from Vriska's outstretched hand. Then she took her cane. Before she headed out she gave Karkat a little wave and he returned it, smiling a tiny bit.

"Here's to love, here's to love, here's to all that love can stand for..." Vriska sang as Terezi trudged behind.

...  
A/N: the song she's singing is heres to love sung by dean martin from the movie my friend irma and whenever i hear it i swoon

also id really like some miso soup for my sore throat now. just thought id add that.

oh and i hate myself  
...

"It's a wishful wonderland for just you..."

"You can stop singing now." Terezi said.

"What, and give up show business? I'm going on Broadway!"

"I doubt it. And we aren't a couple!"

"Sure you aren't."

"We aren't! If anything, I should be singing about you and John!"

Vriska turned and pretended to take a long drag from a cigarette.

"John... I haven't heard that name in years..."

"What are you talking about?"

"Well it's hard to keep up a relationship when you never see each other and you're too loaded with work to talk to each other and you go to different schools!"

"He's staying at my hotel."

Vriska's eye seemed to bulge out of its socket. Terezi wondered if she had made the other eye grow back.

"He WHAAAAAAAAT?"

"Come to my house and you might catch him."

"Oh ho ho! I'll be needing my butterfly net!"

Terezi cackled and the two friends walked past Vriska's little house and to Pyrope's Place. Porrim was there.

"Oh hello girls! You're early!"

"Yeah, shit took crack and went haywire so we bailed." Vriska said. "You see John anywhere?"

Porrim's eyebrows were spaced about a metre apart.

"Haven't seen him. Well Terezi, I guess it's my cue to leave?"

"Okay then, and thanks for covering me!"

"You owe me."

Porrim took her coat and hat and walked past them out of the door. Vriska paced around the lobby, sniffing every now and then.

"I can smell him, Tez! Kinda like you! Smell his geekiness! Smell the delicious scent of Nic Cage!"

Terezi stuck her tongue out. Then she sat down at her desk and looked at her book. John actually smelt a lot like the ground after rain, a scent she was okay with, but not really into. Flipping through the pages of her log, she placed a finger on today's date and gave the page a good, hard lick.

JOHN 3GB3RT: CH3CK3D OUT 7:00 4M

"He's not back from school yet."

Vriska sighed and flopped down on the sofa.

"Ugh! What am I even doing here? He's probably found someone else!"

"Aw, Vriska! He probably thinks the same thing about you! Just wait and surprise him when he comes in!"

Vriska took out her History packet and kicked her feet on to the sofa. She stuck her pencil into the corner of her mouth.

"Who was Troll Paul Revere again?" She asked after a bit.

"I dunno, the first president I guess." Terezi said, punching holes in some important looking papers.

"No way, that was Troll Lincoln!" Vriska snorted. "Remember, the Great Compromiser?"

"Oh yeah! Then I guess he was the second."

"Mm, kay." Vriska jotted down the answer on her worksheet.

Roxy and Jane came in, drunk as lords and hanging onto each other to stay up. They sauntered up to Terezi's desk and she was awakened from her trance by the strong smell of booze.

"Room!" Roxy yelled loudly, slamming a fist on the table.

"Uh, what for?" Terezi asked, sniffing the newcomers and recoiling quickly. Latula was going to have to clean up whatever mess they made.

"Room!" Jane repeated, putting her fist on the table, looking at Roxy and laughing hysterically.

"Okay, okay." Terezi sighed and gave them a room on the top floor, wondering if vomit could soak through floors if there was enough of it.

Vriska turned around on the sofa and gave Terezi a weird look. Then she saw Jane.

"Jane!" She said loudly.

Roxy turned around.

"Yas?"

Jane laughed and put her hand on Roxy's face.

"Roxy, you're so silly - hic! Everyone knows my name is Roxy! I mean - hic - Roxy. Roxy! Roxy! Jane? Roxy! My name is Roxy!"

Roxy was nodding slowly, gazing into Jane's eyes and drooling slightly. Terezi grimaced.

"Okay Roxy, does your brother have a girlfriend?" Vriska asked.

Jane leant on the counter and tilted her head.

"I've got a girlfriend... And he... I don't have a brother! I'm - hic - Roxy! I have a sister named Rose who is really hot, but not as hot as me! And she has a girlfriend already so back off!"

Vriska sighed and turned to Roxy.

"Jane, does John have a girlfriend?"

Roxy laughed.

"Him? Naw, girl! If you want him you've already got my blessing and - hic - you can marry tomorrow!"

"Oh! Okay, thank you." Vriska turned around again and continued with her homework.

Jane snatched up the keys and Terezi helped them into the dumbwaiter. It was a bit of a tight squeeze. Hopefully Latula was cleaning on the sixth floor and would let them out.

"I told you! That nerd couldn't get another girlfriend if he tried!" She said, returning to her desk.

"Well that isn't going to do you any good if he doesn't come here!" Vriska said agitatedly.

Just then, the door opened and John came in with a bag of instant noodles. Vriska saw him and dropped her papers, staring like she was in a daze. Terezi guffawed.

"What's so funny?" John asked. Terezi stopped chuckling and holding her sides long enough to point over to the left of him.

"John?" Vriska asked quietly.

John turned to her and dropped his bag of noodles.

"Vriska?" He whispered softly.

"John?"

"Vriska?"

"John!"

"Vriska!"

...  
A/N: This is ridiculous.  
...

Vriska jumped up and the two ran towards each other. John grabbed Vriska by the waist and lifted her high, swinging her around in a circle.

Terezi felt like she could die. Of what, she didn't know. Just a normal suicidal teen thought.

"Oh my god I thought I'd never see you again!" John said happily, putting Vriska down.

"Me too! You haven't changed a bit!"

"You sure have! You've gotten so pretty, Vriska!"

Vriska blushed cobalt and Terezi bit her lip in an attempt not to laugh.

"Well if that's the case you've gotten dorkier!"

"Stop complimenting me or you'll make me blush!"

Terezi couldn't handle it. She snorted loudly, stray powder from her red chalk spurting out of her nose like fire. Then she had a terrible coughing fit. Vriska and John stared at her, unsure of what to do. Finally she came to her senses and sniffed up the snot dripping from her nose.

"Ahaha, you guys! Get a room! You're already in a hotel, we've got a million of them!"

The couple blushed and John quickly shoved his noodles into the bag and Vriska gathered her stuff and put it in her bag.

John eyes the stairs cautiously.

"Can we take the dumbwaiter?"

Terezi shuffled over to the little door in the wall and pressed the button. They all waited a bit until a small ding was heard. The door opened and Terezi raised her hands to beckon them inside.

But Roxy and Jane were still stuffed in there.

"Jake, you sure work fast!"

"Yeah Dirky-boy, I just told some funny grey girl you were single!"

 

...

 

Terezi scrolled through the search results. She couldn't find it! She was looking for Karkat's trolltag on Trollian. Agitated, she leant back in her chair and kicked her feet up on the desk, sucking her red chalk stick. Then...

carcinoGeneticist [CG] began trolling  gallowsCalibrator [GC]

CG: TEREZI.

Terezi sat up in her chair. Who was this?

GC: HOW DO YOU KNOW MY N4M3?

CG: IT'S ME, KARKAT.

Terezi fell right out of her chair. From the ground she reached up to type her answer.

GC: K4RKL3S?

CG: STOP USING THAT INSUFFERABLE NICKNAME.

GC: YOUR3 1NSUFF3R4BL3!

CG: OKAY, WE'RE GETTING OFF THE SUBJECT HERE. SO...

CG: TEREZI, WILL YOU MEET ME IN THE PARK TODAY?

GC: UHHH...

Uhhh... What? Her? Meet him? In a park? Together? What?

GC: WH4T

Shit.

GC: T1M3

GC: 1 M34NT WH4T T1M3

Redeemed?

CG: I'M HERE NOW.

Terezi stretched her arm over her desk and grabbed her clock. It was six.

GC: 1N H4LF 4N HOUR?

GC: 1M ON MY SH1FT.

CG: WOW, YOU'RE WORKING? WELL OKAY THEN. I'LL JUST AMUSE MYSELF UNTIL THEN.

GC: L4T3R.

gallowsCalibrator [GC] ceased trolling  carcinoGeneticist [CG]

Terezi heaved herself into her seat and gave her screen one last lick. Did he just ask her on a date? Or was he angry about the iodine? She quickly ruled out the date option. He had said it himself. They were friends. Maybe he wanted to just hang as friends? She wasn't sure if she wanted to see him if that was the case.

Impatiently, she waited out her shift. There were sixty minutes in an hour, and at the time it felt like seventy minutes too many. When the door opened and Damara came in, Terezi grabbed her cane, dashed out of her seat and bumped into her.

"YOU NO RUN IN HOUSE." Damara said angrily, straightening her hairdo.

"Sorry Damara, I've got to be somewhere."

"REMEMBER, REMEMBER NEXT TIME."

"I will!"

...  
A/N: [s] terezi: remem8er gets me ever FUCKING TIME OH MY GOD  
i just want terezi to find vriska again... *gross sobbing*  
...

And with that, Terezi ran down the street as fast as her skinny legs and blind eyes could take her.

Panting, she reached the park. The sun was just starting to turn red and set.

She walked around the park aimlessly, sniffing around for Karkat. She wished he had given her a meeting place or something. Then she smelt it. The candy red smell. Like red velvet cupcakes that actually smelt like red. She ran up a small hill with a tree on top of it. He was sitting there, slouched up against the tree trunk, playing a random game on his phone.

"Karkles!"

"I thought I told you not to call me that!"

"I know! And I don't care!"

"I just know we're going to have a lovely civil conversation."

Terezi sat down next to him, folding her legs neatly under her like Aradia had done.

"Why did you ask to meet me?" She asked.

"Because..." Karkat trailed off, looking at the ground. His fingers played around in the dirt, drawing shapes.

"Because the sunset from here is beautiful."

Terezi laughed.

"I'm blind!"

Karkat looked at her.

"Shit! That alibi was horrible!" He muttered loud enough to hear.

"But I can smell it." She said, putting a hand on his leg. He picked it up and put it on the ground.

Together, they sat there in silence, watching the sun dip down into the lake.

Karkat moved his hand silently and placed it on Terezi's. In the dark they couldn't see each other's broad smiles.

Their silence was interrupted by Terezi's phone ringing. She had received a message on Trollian. Quickly, she gave the screen a grotesque slurp and Karkat raised an eyebrow at her.

genuinelyCoolest [GC] began trolling  gallowsCalibrator [GC]

...  
A/N: you try coming up with a trolltag for latula starting with g and c i already did korbian my work here is done  
...

GC: g1rl wh3r3 you 4t

She typed a reply.

GC: STUDY1NG 4T VR1SK4S, NO B1G D34L

The lie was necessary. Besides, Latula couldn't smell her deceit over the phone, could she? Who was she kidding, she could say she was grabbing a quick snack with her new friend, Jack Noir and Latula would never sniff her out.

GC: wh3n you f1gur1n on g3tt1n b4ck

GC: 1 DUNNO, PROB4BLY 1N 4N HOUR

GC: w4nt m3 to s4v3 you som3 d1nn3r

GC: PL34S3

GC: sur3 th1ng. by3, s1s! r4d study1n

GC: BY3

gallowsCalibrator [GC] ceased trolling  genuinelyCoolest [GC]

Terezi placed her phone on the grass.

"Who was that?" Karkat asked, turning his head to her.

"Just my sister."

"Oh."

They sat there awkwardly now. Two teenagers sitting under a tree in the dark.

"You hungry?" Asked Karkat.

Terezi thought for a moment. Latula said she was going to have dinner ready at home. But she wouldn't have minded a snack. "A bit."

"I'll take you somewhere."

Terezi almost rolled off the hill. Was this a date? He had put his hand on hers, there it was in the dim light of the street lamps beyond.

"Um, okay."

Karkat stood up and reached for her hand. He pulled her up but let go afterwards. Terezi followed Karkat's strong scent as they wound down alleyways and walked through busy streets. Finally they got to a little bakery down a road.

Inside, the smell of fresh bread hit Terezi hard in the nostril.

"Wow, this is great!" She chirped, taking a deep breath of all the pastries and bread laid out.

"I, um, I'm glad you like it."

He took a tray and some plastic tongs out from a rack.

"What would you like to eat?" He asked, playfully clicking the tongs together like a crab.

Terezi ran ahead of him and stuck her face in all the glass cases in the shop. She saw a beautiful display of macaroons in one of them.

"Can I get a red macaroon?"

Karkat opened the glass lid and carefully took a red heart-shaped macaroon from the plate and placed it on his tray. It was a big macaroon, probably the size of Terezi's whole hand. He walked over to a second display case and selected a chocolate croissant for himself.

They walked to the counter. Karkat ordered a chocolate milkshake and Terezi settled for a caramel one.

"That'll be five pounds, please." Said the lady at the register.

...  
A/N: im vietnamese, i dont use pounds  
dont question my motives  
...

Terezi reached for her pocketbook but Karkat had already handed the lady a ten pound note.

"I can pay my share." She insisted, but Karkat shook his head.

"My treat."

He had bought her food.

Terezi internally hit her head against a wall. This was not a date! They were just friends!

He led the way to a little booth that looked out onto the lake. Terezi realized it was the park they had just been in. Karkat clinked a plate in front of her, and she picked up her macaroon.

"Thanks."

"It's nothing."

Silence.

"Karkles?"

"Mm." He held up a finger and finished chewing his mouthful of croissant. "Don't call me that." 

"Karkles." Terezi repeated insistently.

He sighed.

"Whatever."

"Karkles, how did you get my tag?"

He hesitated.

"Vriska gave it to me."

"Vriska?!"

What had she been up to? It looked like someone was playing Little Matchmaker around here.

Wait.

If Vriska gave him her tag, then what else had she told him?

"When did she give it to you?"

Karkat didn't look at her. She knew he had a secret.

"In Alternian Lit."

"Why did she give it to you?"

"I asked."

The lie was obvious. Terezi was getting angry now.

"Oh really? Then why won't you look me in the eye?"

"You're blind!"

"I noticed!"

He stopped.

"Sorry."

"Karkat."

"Yes?"

"Did you choose to be my friend?"

"I-"

"Or did Vriska force you into it?"

"Hey, I never said that-"

Terezi stopped him.

"So you met me and took me here because you're a coward? Or was it out of pity? Because I'm so pathetic I-"

She wasn't going to tell him how many tears she cried yesterday. For him.

Karkat looked at her worriedly.

"You what?"

"None of your business!" She yelled, putting a fist on the table and leaning towards him.

"Terezi, Vriska didn't make me do anything! I really want us to be friends!"

The lie stank. Terezi twitched her nose. She looked at her half-eaten macaroon. Then she placed it back on the plate. Sighing, she sank deeper into the sofa.

"Terezi, I-"

"Save it."

Tears welled up in her eyes. But she wouldn't let him see them. She hated him. She hated Vriska. She wanted to be alone.

Terezi stood up and walked off as the waitress brought their milkshakes to the table. Karkat was about to get up and follow her but instead he put his head on the table and muttered a thank you to the lady.

Terezi walked out of the door and around the bakery. She wanted to go towards the park or she'd get lost in the winding alleyways. She saw Karkat through the window, absent-mindedly sipping his milkshake.

As she walked, the tears fell again. But these were not tears of sorrow. They were tears of anger.

She kicked the door of Pyrope's Place open. Damara looked up from her cross-stitching at her.

"ARE YOU OKAY."

"Yeah, it's nothing."

Damara opened her mouth to speak, but couldn't find the correct words. She watched Terezi walk across the room and turn.

"Did Vriska leave?"

Damara looked at the book.

"NO NAME "VRISKA" IN BOOK."

"A cobalt-blooded troll with a nerdy guy named John?"

"JOHN EGBERT HE COME ONE SEVEN AT THE P-M."

"Never mind, sorry I disturbed you."

"IT IS OKAY."

Terezi walked into her room and flopped onto her bed. She reached for the radio and turned it on.

Oh, the big red letters stand for the Jello family!  
Oh, the big red letters stand for the Jello family!  
That's Jello!  
Yum yum yum!  
Jello pudding!  
Yum yum yum!  
Jello tapioca puddings, yessiree!

She switched it off.

And fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Great ending my friend gj gj  
> I read this comic by Tang about every Karezi fanfic being:  
> 1\. Karkat is angry and frothing at the mouth and swearing at everyone  
> 2\. Terezi repeatedly says she's blind and licks Karkat  
> 3\. He nearly dies of a brain hemorrhage and she says he's cute  
> 4\. He suddenly mellows and they have sloppy makeouts
> 
> And I thought yeah that's this fic right there  
> So I guess I switched things up a bit?  
> Still sucks major dick
> 
> ahahha
> 
> and you know all those times karkat and terezi are sitting and theres silence  
> well thats the silence coming in because yes doctor who
> 
> silence will fall


	8. Like Redglare

"I'm not going to school."

Terezi pulled the covers right over her head and flipped over so her back was to her sister.

Latula yanked her covers off her head and put a palm on her forehead.

"You don't have a fever, sis! You've gotta go to school!"

"No."

"What are we going to tell mum?"

Terezi thought.

"Tell her I've got a fever."

"You don't!"

"She doesn't care enough to check."

Latula sat down on Terezi's bed. She put her hand on the lump in the covers.

"Of course she cares about you, Tez! She's just... unemotional."

"She doesn't care about me. She obviously likes you better. Everyone does."

"That ain't true! I've got more enemies than I know skateboarding tricks! You're the one to be envied, Tez. You're really rad."

"You're a horrible liar."

"I'm not lying! Okay, sis, you stay home, but I'm not saying anything to mum and if she finds out then I know nothing."

"Whatever."

Sighing, Latula rose and left the room.

Terezi rolled over onto her back, listening to the rain pour outside. She wished it was a thunderstorm, big enough for school to be cancelled. Big enough to flood the school. Big enough so people had to volunteer and help other people whose houses had been washed away. Big enough so she could stay in her bed forever.

She lay there, listening to a comedy show on the radio until Latula kicked the door open. She placed a tray on the bedside table and sat on her bed again.

"See, mum told me to bring you breakfast."

Terezi sniffed the tray. It was a bowl of warm milk and some slices of bread.

"If you don't eat it I've got orders to spoon-feed you."

Terezi sat up quickly and felt dizzy from the blood flowing from her head.

"Fine! I'll go to school."

Latula raised a hand for a high-five but Terezi didn't return it. Latula went out and came back with a box of Fruit Loops under her shirt. Gratefully, Terezi poured a hearty lot onto her warm milk and started eating. Latula got changed into her going-out clothes for her day with Mituna. Then she turned on the television and turned off the radio. Terezi couldn't understand what was happening, she could have sniffed harder or gone up to lick the screen but she didn't care much for this form of entertainment. Lots of people being killed and yelling at each other. Latula said the show was 'Devious Maids'. Terezi thought it sounded a bit like some kind of hentai.

...  
A/N: what. what? WHAT?   
i play undertale too??? no i dont i cant beat muffet for the life of me  
but mad dummy is my spirit animal type thing  
...

Terezi finished her cereal and got changed reluctantly. She chose a plain black shirt and put on a black hoodie with her sign printed on the front in teal. Then she slipped on some dark blue jeans. Since it was still raining heavily outside she put on some red shoes. She didn't like the squeaking noise her crocs made when they were wet. Her bag was hanging on the bedpost.

"Need a lift?" Asked Latula, eyes not straying from the telly.

...  
A/N: bet it would suck her face in IM DONE WITH THE DOCTOR WHO AND UNDERTALE REFERENCES IM SORRY  
...

"Please."

Latula got up and together they went out of the side exit into the parking lot. She handed Terezi her helmet before she strapped on hers. Together they puttered along the slippery, crowded roads and to the school.

...

Vriska and Nepeta were waiting at the front gate. Terezi got off the bike and thanked Latula before she chugged off to Mituna's. Then she walked straight past her two friends, hood pulled right down over her nose.

"Yo, Tez! Can't smell us through the rain?"

"Terezi! We're o-fur here!"

She walked on. A few metres and she'd be able to disappear into the crowded hallways.

No such luck. Vriska had all of it. She ran up to Terezi, Nepeta staying behind to wait for Feferi.

"Wassup?"

Terezi walked on.

Vriska grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back.

"What's wrong?"

"Don't talk to me!"

Vriska let go of her shoulder in surprise.

"I-"

Terezi started walking away.

"Why are you angry at me? At least tell me why so I can do something!"

You've done quite enough! Terezi thought. She pushed open the school doors and walked in, leaving Vriska alone in the rain.

Inside, everyone was hurrying to get somewhere else. People bumped into Terezi and stepped on her feet. A few shins needed to get prodded at with her dragon cane before she stumbled to her locker in a less crowded area. Vriska didn't follow snd Terezi thought that was good.

...  
A/N: am i referencing the bible now  
...

She contemplated going to Ms. Paint again, but then stopped. What could the nurse do for her? She didn't care anymore. Her heart was empty.

She was just an emotionless shell. Emotionless. Unemotional. Like her mum.

She trudged on to Math. She knew an encounter with Vriska was necessary but she didn't care. Her moirail sat next to her and tried to reason with her but she didn't care. In the end, Vriska sulked did her own work but Terezi didn't care.

She was in tenth grade. She was growing up. She was going to be the best legislacerator in Alternia and the shrewdest.

And if it came to it, the meanest.

Law had no room for feelings or sentiment. And so neither did she.

...

Terezi closed the door and looked around the lobby. Porrim smiled from her desk.

"Hello, Terezi!"

"Hi."

Porrim was surprised at her unenthusiastic response, but didn't have time to respond before Terezi had strode briskly down the side hall and into her room.

Mituna was playing Fallout 2 on the console. He turned when he heard the door shut and grinned.

"Tehrehzeh!"

"Hello."

Mituna tilted his head to one side, his character dying on-screen.

"W-why are you th-th-tho th-thad?"

"I had a hard day at school." She said, putting her bag on her table.

Mituna shrugged and turned back to his game, swearing loudly when he realised he had been robbed of all his belongings and was dying of radiation sickness.

...  
A/N: ive only played fallout shelter so bare with me, did you want me to make him and latula play undertale or hiveswap for gods sake  
...

Terezi fiddled around on her phone for a bit before doing a workbook page of Korbian. Boring. When she checked the time and found she was due for her receptionists' shift she walked out the door without closing it and shuffled down the hall. Porrim had taken the hint and left. Terezi fell into her chair and looked at her logbook. John was back already. She hoped Vriska wasn't with him. She didn't want to see her.

Terezi took her box of chalk and looked inside. The red and blue colours were gone, so she took out the green stick and put it in her mouth.

Horrus came in with a huge box of various metal bits and tools. He had rented a room a while ago to tinker in because their little house was too small for his creations. He had started a large Imperial Drone suit for some rich kid named Meenah, who would pay for his room while he made it.

Terezi handed Horrus his key and loaded his box into the dumbwaiter.

"You aren't neighy talkative to-hay."

"Not feeling up to it."

"Alright then." He stopped the conversation abruptly as his palms were getting sweaty.

Horrus started up the stairs and Terezi sat back in her chair.

Twenty minutes later another troll came in. He had funny 3D glasses and odd shoes on. He had a yellow pack on and was holding a yellow husktop.

"Thecond floor pleathe."

Then she noticed his double horns. They were like Mituna's.

"Sollux?"

"Thollux Captor. How did you know?"

"Aradia goes to school with me."

His gaze went unfocused and he flinched suddenly.

"AA."

"Uh...."

"Thecond floor pleathe."

Terezi flipped through her book.

"All rooms from one to twenty are open."

"One to twenty... 202 or 220?" Sollux muttered loud enough to hear. He thought so hard sparks began to fly from behind his glasses and he started twitching uncontrollably.

Terezi decided she didn't want to mop up his corpse.

"Here-you-go-202-have-a-nice-day-would-you-like-to-use-the-elevator?" She said quickly, handing him a key. When he took it she felt a small electric shock and pulled back.

"Thorry. I'll uthe the thairth."

He started his slow ascent and came tumbling back down after reaching the fifth stair. He tried again and again to no avail until his frustration began to make him shake again.

"Please use the dumbwa- elevator!" Terezi cried worriedly.

Sollux sighed and let Terezi lead the way. He clambered into the small metal box and she pressed the button for the second floor. The door closed and she put her ear against the wall, listening apprehensively to the buzzing noises echoing through.

The rest of her shift was uneventful. At 6:30 Damara came in, smoking a cigarette. Terezi left and went into the kitchen without saying a word.

Latula was still cleaning upstairs so she looked in the fridge for leftovers and took out some cooked spaghetti and a block of cheese. She microwaved it and grated the cheese liberally on top. Then she brought it into her room to eat. Mituna was still on the same level as when she left. She decided not to tell him his brother was here because she honestly didn't care enough. Putting her plate of spaghetti on her desk, she opened her pack and searched around for her homework. Terezi sat down and turned on the lamp and started eating while reading her assignment.

A while after Terezi had finished her dinner and her homework, Latula came bounding in with a plate of mashed potatoes and green peas.

"Here you go, babe! Tez, did you already finish tea?"

Terezi nodded, not looking up from her phone. Latula gave Mituna his dinner and played his game for him as he ate, leveling up at least five times before he put his empty plate down.

"Look, Latula! I'm on th-th-THUCH a high l-level!"

Latula hugged him by the waist.

"You're the best at this game, babe."

Terezi stuck her tongue out at their backs, then threw her phone beside her and got up to change and brush her teeth. She slipped into her dragon pyjamas and scrubbed her pointed teeth. Then she tied her hair up and washed her face. Outside, Latula had plugged in the other remote doodad and started playing with Mituna, making sure to stay a good three levels behind him or he would throw a hissy fit. Terezi got in bed and turned on the radio. A rerun of her favourite thriller show, Suspense, was on. She loved the mystery and original stories. Latula thought it was a bit nerve-wracking, with all the murders and whatnot. Terezi folded her glasses and put them on the bedside table, before sniffing once more to check Mituna and Latula's progress and drifting slowly off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> how many times am i going to end a chapter with terezi going to sleep it is stupid and repetitive


	9. Right Next to the Rubbish Bins

Terezi shuffled past the school gate and looked around. None of her friends were there. She couldn't care less, really and hoped they would stay lost. With this in mind she walked around the school and to the bins so as to avoid any encounters with living beings.

Then she stopped.

Two distinct scents emerged. Red candy and black ink.

Karkat and Vriska.

And Karkat was bleeding.

Terezi ran fast, cane clinking against her side as she blindly rushed forward.

She realized after all that she still cared about Karkat. At least, she wouldn't stand for him to be hurt.

She rounded the bins and smelt them. Vriska had Karkat in a headlock and was hitting him repeatedly on the head, shouting profanities.

"Stop!" Terezi cried, tears of confusion and anger forming in her eyes.

Vriska looked up, but Karkat was too banged-up to move.

"Ugh! Why has everyone got to show up exactly when I don't want them to?" Vriska said.

"Put him down!"

"You don't care about him! In fact, he's the reason you hate me!"

"I don't hate you."

Vriska froze. She released the mutant troll and stood there with her arms at her sides.

"Then... Why didn't you talk to me yesterday?"

It was too much. Terezi had to sit down and hold her aching head. Vriska stood still, waiting for an answer.

"Granted, you weren't in my good books then. But you're still my Scourge Sister." She got a bit angry. "Vriska, why did you meddle in my affairs like this?"

"I only wanted to make you happy!"

"Look where we are now!" Terezi crawled over to Karkat, putting his head on her lap and mopping up his cuts with her handkerchief.

Vriska held her head.

"I'm sorry."

"There's nothing you can do now. Just tell me what you did."

"Well, we had Alternian Literature together and I... kind of forced him to meet you that night and gave him your trolltag."

"Just meet me?"

"Yeah. At the park near your house."

"Just meet me?" Terezi repeated.

"Did I stutter?"

Terezi looked at Karkat, who was regaining consciousness now. He turned his head upwards and saw her, before quickly lifting his head up and banging his forehead on her nose.

Vriska snickered.

"Vriska you ass wait 'til I lay my fucking hands on you-" Karkat growled, balling his hands into fists.

"You'll do no such thing!" Terezi interrupted.

Karkat turned around and glared at Terezi.

"What do you care?"

"I don't know about you, but I care a shit ton! Karkat, I wish I could have done this under different circumstances, but I guess I should just take it as it comes so..." Terezi cleared her throat and looked Karkat right where she thought his eye should be.

"I love you."

Karkat looked stunned. Vriska was surprised too, but took her bag and left quickly - not before making a few obscene kissing sounds and grinning like a maniac.

Karkat scooted on his bum away from Terezi. He looked around and then stared at her. Then he said, "I love you too."

Terezi sighed.

"Is that a statement from your heart or did Vriska make you say that?"

Karkat looked a bit cross and got on his hands and knees. He crawled right over to Terezi and put his arms around her waist and pressed his lips against hers.

Terezi was shocked. She remembered her unpleasant encounter with Gamzee the other day and was rather scared at first. But then she realised there was something in this kiss that his lacked.

Love.

And so she threw her arms around his shoulders and kissed back. Karkat rested his hands on the ground behind her and they toppled over onto the floor. Terezi smiled a bit in amusement and pulled Karkat closer.

He straightened up, his hands near Terezi's ears and put a few loose strands of her hair behind her ear.

"Does that answer your question?"

"In paragraphs and paragraphs."

Terezi leaned on her elbows and Karkat sat up, sitting on her legs.

"I chose to take you to the bakery the day before. Vriska just told me to talk with you in the park."

"Then I guess she deserves a big apology. And you do too. So, sorry."

"No big deal. But you know what is?"

"What?"

"Being late for first period. Come on, let's go!"

Karkat got on his feet and helped Terezi up. He put on his bag and handed over her cane. Then he took her hand and intertwined their fingers together. Terezi blushed teal and smiled bashfully. As they headed away from the bins Terezi turned.

Aradia was sitting on the other side of the bin, smiling brightly and waving at her. Her white eyes were open wide and dancing with happiness. Terezi realized she wasn't waving at her anymore, but at something in front of her.

At the fence, very far away, was a lanky troll with funny 3D glasses and only one white shoe, wearing a yellow shirt and blue jeans, climbing over the fence and hurrying towards his matesprit.

Karkat didn't notice him. Terezi turned to him and saw that he had been staring at her the entire time. Embarrassed, both of them blushed and squeezed each other's hand tighter. 

...  
A/N: SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE JUST MARRY ALREADY  
...

Terezi ran into the math room just as the bell stopped ringing. Panting, she slid into the seat next to Vriska, not caring to notice the glare from the teacher.

"Sorry."

"I'm going to need something better than that!"

Terezi sighed.

"Vriska Spinneret Serket, I am sorry I was such a bitch to you yesterday."

"Now that's more like it."

"I shouldn't have judged you so quickly."

"Well, while we're getting our round of apologies I'd like to say sorry for being such a meddlesome meddling meddler."

"Well with Kanaya gone someone had to take her place."

Vriska scrunched up her face at the thought of having to impersonate such a person and Terezi chortled.

"Girls! Have you been talking all this time while I was teaching the class about parabolas?" The teacher seethed, pressing her marker against the board so hard ink was leaking out and dripping down the board.

"Parabolas have an axis of symmetry, which is the point where you can fold the graph in half and have equal points on each side." Vriska recited, looking very smug.

The teacher gave a satisfied nod and turned away. All the ink from her marker had spurted onto the board, so she threw it away and got a fresh one from her drawer.

"What the fuck?" Terezi whispered, surprised that her friend was such a math whiz all of a sudden.

"It was written on the board." Vriska chuckled, pointing at the far end of the whiteboard where the features of parabolas were.

Terezi cackled and proceeded to pass notes with Vriska for the rest of the class.

...

"So!" Terezi said as Aradia floated over to her table.

"Pardon?" Aradia asked, cocking an eyebrow and placing her books on the desk.

"You? Sollux?" Terezi replied, grinning wide.

"Oh! I gave him a tour of the school and he brought me some pressed flowers." She opened one of her notebooks and took out a dried daffodil, holding it up and admiring the dead plant. "What about you and that other troll?"

Terezi opened her mouth to say something...

And then...

What were they?

He kissed her.

But...

Was it Vriska?

She said she wouldn't interfere...

He kissed her...

Kissed her...

She didn't deserve him.

She was just a needy, spoilt person.

She hated herself.

She lungs failed her as organs. Panting, mouth open, gasping for air, chest and back heaving rapidly, one arm wrapped about her stomach, one over her dripping eyes, head bent over onto the table.

"Are you alright?" Aradia asked, fretting now and trying to pet Terezi on the head, but her ghostly hand went right through her skull.

"I- I-" Terezi tried to speak, but she had no air. She put her head on the table, sobbing horribly and wrapping her arms around her head, coughing and sputtering.

Other students gathered around. Some stood back, afraid she would go feral and slice their faces open. Others were laughing, filming the scene for their Snapchat or whatever. The teacher had left for the faculty room for his fifth coffee that period.

Someone pushed their way through the crowd, dragging along another troll.

"Terezi? Terezi can you hear me?"

Terezi felt her hands and head tingling. She balled her hands into fists and slipped off of the seat, curling up into a ball. Aradia knelt down next to her, the material plane not cooperating and making her untouchable.

Feferi turned to Eridan.

"Quick! Give me your inhaler!"

"W-what? No fuckin' w-way, Fef!"

"She needs air, Eridan! Can't you sea? Give me your glubbing inhaler!"

"She can die for all I care! Fuckin' asshole, splittin' my skull with her fuckin' cane."

"Oh for cod's sake will you listen to reason? Stop being shellfish and give me your inhaler!"

"Fef, I ain't giving it to my anemone!"

"No, you don't get to use fish puns like this! In fact, I am revoking your permit on fish puns until you GIVE ME YOUR INHALER!"

...  
A/N: ring a bell, landdweller scum?  
haha ive just about memorised all of feferi and eridans pesterlogs by now  
...

Terezi cried even louder, trying to cover her face with her hands and shaking furiously. Aradia had given up and sunk neck deep into the floor, feeling the hem of her shirt nervously.

It would probably be best if she died.

Then Karkat wouldn't be stuck with a bitch like her.

Vriska wouldn't have to deal with her complaining.

Aradia would save her nervousness for someone worth it.

Why, why, why did people have feelings?

All it did was make her more guilty for making them worried.

She wanted to be alone. To be able to breathe some fresh air. It felt like a ton of bricks had been cemented onto her chest. Her hands shook and the tears couldn't stop flowing.

Vriska burst in, followed by Nepeta.

"Terezi!" Vriska squatted beside her friend and tried to brush the hair out of her face. Nepeta joined the crusade for the inhaler with Feferi.

It made Terezi cry even more. She started forgetting things. She forgot who this troll looming over her was. She couldn't recognize the three voices bickering over there.

She couldn't remember her name.

It scared her so much. She was so confused and frightened.

Vriska tore open her bag and took out her blue water bottle.

"Someone turn on the fan! She needs air!"

Terezi was reluctantly pulled into a seated position, hands not straying from her teal-soaked face and coughing violently now.

Vriska sent Aradia to the nurse and poured some water into her handkerchief. 

"Terezi, Terezi let me see your face."

Terezi panted for air, hands pulling back from Vriska. She couldn't show herself like this. She couldn't show herself at all.

"Terezi, let me see your pretty face. Come on, here, I'll hold your hand."

Terezi shook her head furiously. She had the wrong person. She was not Terezi.

Who was she?

Would the tears ever stop?

"Terezi, let me hold your hand."

"I'm not Terezi!" Terezi yelled, jerking back and panting hard, air not reaching her lungs. Her nose was so blocked and the scent of tears so strong that she couldn't see anything at all. Vriska was taken back. She couldn't remember her name?

"You are Terezi Pyrope and I am Vriska Serket." Vriska said, crawling over to her.

"I am not Terezi!" Terezi yelled again.

Angrily, Vriska grabbed both of her hands and yanked them off her face. She took both her wrists in one hand and sighed, pulling streaks of her matted black hair behind her ear.

"There we go, Terezi. There's that beautiful face."

Vriska took off her red glasses and placed them on the table. She took her wet handkerchief and mopped up Terezi's tears. Terezi relaxed a bit.

She started to remem(8)ber.

Her name was Vriska- no, it was something else.

Tears flowed again in her frustration. She concentrated hard, teeth gritting.

Her name was Terezi Pyrope.

Vriska patted her raw face dry with a paper napkin and combed her fingers through her hair. 

"There we go. Looking prettier than ever. Now we just need to open our eyes."

No.

What good would they do anyway?

Terezi fought to keep the tears back again. Vriska took both her wrists in her hands, then said, "Let's open our eyes together."

Terezi sighed.

"Eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one."

Terezi lifted her eyelids and saw the dim, fuzzy outline of her friend. Vriska's one burnt out eye was open too, her glasses on the table next to Terezi's.

But she still couldn't breathe. Coughing, she turned away from her friend and looked at the ground, wheezing and panting.

"Oh, FINE! Eridan, I will go on a date with you if you just give me the glubbing inhaler!" Feferi cried, Nepeta looking sadly up at her.

Eridan smirked, reaching into his pocket and extracting a small tube like thing. Feferi snatched it from him and turned on her heel in a huff.

"I hope you're satisfied." She murmured angrily.

"Hope's my specialty. And if you come over to my place at 'round eight tonight, I'll just be filled with life."

Nepeta gave him a disgusted look before following her girlfriend.

Feferi examined the utensil, turning it in her hands but not figuring out how to use it. Then the cap fell off and she gingerly put the end into Terezi's mouth.

The taste of canned sardines was overwhelming. Then Feferi pressed down hard on the top of the tube and a sweet flow of cool air rushed into her lungs.

Terezi sat back, looking around. Her chest heaved and sank slower with each breath. She wiped the sweat off her brow and looked around. The other students had resumed talking and Aradia was still out looking for the nurse. She blinked hard and looked at her three friends.

"Can you breathe alright?" Asked Nepeta worriedly.

"Say somefin. Anyfin! Please!" Feferi said anxiously, tossing the inhaler over her shoulder and hitting Eridan square in the forehead.

"My name..." Terezi started slowly and softly.

"Is what?" Asked Vriska hopefully.

"Is... Terezi Pyrope." She finished, exhausted suddenly.

Vriska beamed and then points at herself.

"What's my name?"

"Your name is..."

Frustrated, Terezi hit the ground and groaned in concentration.

"Is Vriska... Serket."

"Yes! Yes! Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!" Cried Vriska. "Wait. Yes. That was eight yeses, right?" She scrunched up her forehead and started counting on her fingers.

Terezi looked at Nepeta.

"Nepeta... Lejion."

"Purrfect!"

"Feferi... Feferi..." Had she forgotten it?

"Oh dear! I never did tell you my full name did I! Whale, I guess it never swam up. I'm Feferi Peixes."

"Feferi... Peixes."

"Right on the dot!"

"Want to stand up now?" Asked Vriska, taking her hand and putting on both of their glasses.

Feferi and Nepeta helped support her and Terezi held the table, taking a few tentative steps.

"Want to go see the nurse? Aradia's sped off to who knows where."

Just then, Aradia's head popped up out of the ground.

"So sorry. I just couldn't get out of the floor! A little help, please?"

Nepeta was able to grasp her hand and very easily pulled her out of the ground. Aradia stayed a good half metre in the air, hovering dangerously near the ceiling fan.

"Thank you. Now I know never to trust the material plane again." She dusted off her tattered skirt and noticed Terezi. "Are you okay?"

Terezi stared up at her and grinned her disturbing, shit-eating grin.

"You know what?" She said, letting go of the table and tottering a bit before straightening up. "I'd just like to stay here and have a good time with all my friends!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yay panic attacks! i had one just now, very conveniently placed right in the end of year concert in the boy's dressing room before my performance.
> 
> aha
> 
> don't waste your time worrying. im fine. But you know what isn't? my music grade :D
> 
> so then i thought why not put our lovely mentally unstable friend terezi pyrope through a panic attack? writing from experience, you see.
> 
> oh god. im fucking useless. i cant play the saxophone for shit. the performance was probably eight times better without me. plus i think i might be schizophrenic. iwas so sure i heard the hanging tree being played but they had just finished the concert. it was fucking confusing. and i have a  
> us history presentation on tuesday. im going to have to talk for fifteen minutes straight about dead people. and i have the science fair on that day too. and our fucking dancing oobleck is absolute shit. weve finished the title of our poster. and it's friday. please, i really need to be in america right now so i can get me a nice gun and shoot myself in the brain. someone please kill me.


	10. No One Cares What Humans Think

"Terezi, are you sure you're okay?" Karkat asked.  
"Yeah."   
The two trolls walked down the road in silence.  
"On a scale of one to ten how sure are-"  
"I'm fine, Karkat!" Terezi said loudly, shoving her stick of chalk into his face.   
"Just checking. Sheesh."  
"You've been 'just checking' for the entire walk! Where are we? Are we almost at my home?"  
Terezi sniffed the air. It smelt very different from her street. In fact, she could pick up a faint scent of Karkat. But he was standing next to her so that didn't count.  
"Karkat, where the hell are we?" She asked.  
"My neighbourhood." Karkat replied.  
Terezi almost fell off the sidewalk.  
"Why are we here?! I need to be home for my shift or Redglare will hang me!" She yelled. "What time is it?!"   
Terezi grabbed Karkats wrist and tried to stick her finger into his watch but there was glass over the top of it.  
"This thing is useless!"   
"Calm down Terezi!" Karkat said, slightly exasperated as he pulled his arm gently out of her grasp. He looked down at his watch.  
"Its 3:30pm. I told Vriska to drop by and get Porrim to cover you."  
"She's been covering me all week!" Terezi argued. Porrim was probably going to enslave her for this.  
"She said she wouldn't mind." Karkat said. "Can't we figure the gory details out later?"  
Terezi sighed and nodded slightly. True, it was rather comforting walking with him. Karkat took her hand in his and pulled her gently to one side.   
"This is my place."  
Terezi followed Karkat down the driveway to the front door where he took off his pack and started digging around for his keys.

"The door was unlocked, you know. You should learn to be more observant, Karkat Samantha Timothy Vantas." Came a voice from the doorway. Terezi sniffed. In front of them stood a tall, skinny figure that looked a whole lot like Karkat, only much tidier. He had fluffy hair like his younger brother, but it bore signs of being recently washed and brushed, unlike Karkat's near afro that was probably last groomed the day he was born. The troll in the doorway wore a large, startlingly red knitted sweater that reached well down to his thighs. Under that he had on what looked like black leggings and a pair of household slippers with the hand-embroidered letters 'K' and 'V' on them. The sweater was half-covered in little boy scout badges. Terezi wondered if he wasn't too old to be called a 'boy'.

Karkat jumped. "What the fuck Kankri? Why are you being such a creep?!"   
Karkat's brother waved off his sibling's petty rant and turned to Terezi. "Hello there. What's your name? Pardon me, Karkat here never tells me anything that happens at school."  
Terezi was very surprised at this troll's good manners and tolerable appearance. How could he possibly be related to a walking hurricane like Karkat?  
"I'm Terezi Pyrope." She said shyly, shifting from one foot to another. Karkat was running barefoot in the front yard, punching the mailbox and yelling at the sky.  
"Ah yes. The esteemed sister of Latula Pyrope. I should have known. Well, won't you come in and have some tea and sandwiches? I normally make an afterschool snack for Karkat but it seems he isn't in dire need of the extra energy today. Also please be sure to fill me in on why he seems to already be failing all his classes and it is only the third day of school."  
Terezi looked over at Karkat who was weeding the garden like crazy. "Uh, is he alright?" She asked worriedly.  
"I'm sure he'll be fine. I do not, though, understand why he doesn't use the lawnmower in the garage." Kankri replied, shrugging.   
Terezi followed Karkat's brother into the house. She was pleased to find that it was very tidy. Obviously, that was all Kankri's doing.   
"Have a seat at the counter please. You can take off your bag and leave it on that other chair if you like." Kankri said, getting behind the counter and looking in a cupboard for the tea. Terezi sat on one of the high stools and put her backpack on the seat next to her.   
"Do you take sugar?" Kankri asked suddenly, turning to her.  
"Uh, actually Kankri," Terezi murmured shyly, "I don't drink tea."  
"Oh. Well, neither does Karkat. The caffeine makes him more haywire than usual." Kankri said matter-of-factly. "I'd hate to see him on coffee. I'll check the fridge for something else."  
Outside, Karkat was scuttling around the finely trimmed grass while someone sat calmly on the veranda next door reading a book like this happened every day.  
"We have... Lime juice, orange juice, grape juice... Do you like Faygo?" Kankri straightened up and held out a bottle of red Faygo in front of Terezi's face. The sight of the drink Gamzee guzzled hourly almost made her throw up. "N-no thanks..." She stammered. Kankri realised his actions had been rather triggering so he replaced the offending beverage and took out a carton of milk and orange juice instead. He poured a tall glass of juice and placed it down in front of Terezi and added some milk to his tea.

Terezi cupped her hands around her glass anxiously and sniffed the contents. "Uh, its very... Well kept around here. Your home, I mean." She said, trying to start a small conversation.  
Kankri took a sip of his tea. "Thank you. I do try my best." He said and took a few slices of bread from the breadbox.   
As Kankri was chopping up tomatoes for the sandwiches and Terezi was trying to avoid dying of social anxiety, Karkat stormed into the kitchen, shirtless and drenched from the sprinklers outside which were also washing the windows and everything within ten metres of the house. "I fucking hate tomatoes Kankri." He said, climbing onto a stool. "They make the entire sandwich soggy." Kankri ignored his remark and said, "Thank you for tidying up the lawn. But could you please go out and turn the sprinklers down before the entire neighborhood goes soggy? Oh, and put something on. We have a guest." Karkat threw his hands up in the air and stormed back out.   
"Is he always like that at home?" Terezi asked worriedly.   
"Not at all. He never goes back out when I tell him to. I'll bet he's trying to impress you!" Kankri said, hiding a smile. He put a plate of tiny lettuce, tomato and ham sandwiches down in front of her.

Karkat ran in with a thick winter jumper on and grabbed at the plate of food. Kankri looked at him and he climbed on his stool and muttered, "Ladies first." Terezi took a sandwich and Karkat took five. "Can I hab a-" he tried to say, but Kankri shook his head. "Swallow, wait five seconds, then speak." Karkat chewed furiously, choked and tried again, "May I have a glass of grape juice?"   
Kankri gave him one.  
"Thank you, brother dear." Karkat said through gritted teeth.  
"You're very welcome, brother mine."  
And with that, Kankri left the room, closing the door with a wink.

Terezi and Karkat sat at the counter in silence for a few seconds. Then they both tried to talk at once.   
"Uh, ladies first." Karkat said again.  
"I think your house is very nice." Terezi said.  
"Thank you." Karkat replied.  
They sat in silence again.  
"I'm not always so riled up, you know. Just when I see Kankri." Karkat said, chugging his grape juice.  
"Mhm." Terezi rather doubted this idea, but she didn't say anything.  
"Hey, you wanna go to my room?" Karkat asked suddenly.  
"Sure."

Kankri was watching a documentary about something boring on the sofa. Karkat got Terezi to tiptoe across the back of the room and up the stairs.  
Then they sprinted down the hallway as fast as they could and burst through a door near the end. Karkat slammed the door on his fingers and closed it quietly. Then he reached up and screeched, "OI! THAT SON OF A GODDAMN FUCK DISMANTLED ALL MY LOCKS!"   
Then he turned slowly around. Terezi was staring at the sight too. A perfect bedroom, with a single bed with brown polka dot sheets on it, a freshly painted desk which made the whole room smell like paint, a cork board with pictures of Karkat, his brother and an older man Terezi guessed was his dad tacked onto it and a hideous blue shag carpet lay before them.

"OH. MY. GOD." Karkat said in dismay, sinking to the floor in a crumpled mess.  
"Why? Why me?"   
Terezi patted his matted hair, unsure of what to do. Then Karkat leapt up and tore the pictures off the cork board and tossed them out the window, flung the windows and the sliding glass door leading to the balcony open so they wouldn't suffocate and rolled up the carpet and hid it under his bed.   
"Now thats what I call improvement." He said, standing back.  
"Yes, the carpet had to go." Terezi agreed.   
Karkat turned to her. She blushed hard.   
"Um, well I'm still dying of that horrible paint smell." Karkat said awkwardly. "Want to go out on the balcony?"  
"Yeah, okay." Terezi nodded and they walked out onto the balcony.   
"I wasn't sure what we were going to do here." Karkat said, draping his arms over the railings. "But I guess this is okay, you hanging out here I mean. If you're not bored."  
"I'm not." Terezi said.  
"Thats good."  
Silence.

Broken by an ear piercing scream from the house next door.   
"HEY, WHO-TH YOUR FRIEND, LO-TH-ER?!"  
Karkat yelled back, "FUCK YOU TOO, CAPTOR!"   
It was Sollux, at Aradia's house. Aradia came over and tried to pull Sollux away, but her arms went right through him. She looked up. "Oh hello Karkat, Terezi!" She called, waving at them. Terezi waved back.   
"HEY! I KNOW YOU! YOU WERE THAT PER-TH-ON WHO WARNED ME ABOUT THO-TH-E TH-AIR-TH!" Sollux screamed again, pointing at Terezi.  
"SHE WARNED YOU BUT YOU STILL FELL DIDN'T YOU YOU LISPING FUCK!" Karkat yelled.  
"OH, SHADDUP!" Someone yelled from the house behind them.

Terezi looked at Karkat.

Sollux looked at Aradia.

The four of them burst out laughing.

"Come over here, you guys! We're going to watch a movie!" Aradia called after she could stand.   
Karkat looked at Terezi. She shrugged.   
"JUST A SEC!" Karkat yelled, following Terezi to the door.  
"DON'T FALL DOWN THE TH-AIR-TH, TH-UCKER!" Sollux shrieked.  
"I SWEAR IF YOU LOT DON'T STOP YELLING I'M CALLING THE POLICE!" Yelled the neighbour.

Downstairs, Kankri was asleep on the sofa. Apparently the documentary bored him too.   
Karkat almost tripped down the stairs and woke him up but Terezi grabbed his arm before impact. He looked up at her with a look of pure gratefulness. She smiled back at him.

"What movie are we watching?" Karkat asked as they hurried over to their friends.   
"MY FAVOURITE!" Sollux yelled.   
"Oh god no." Karkat replied.  
"Come on, Karkat!" Aradia said. "This is the first time Sol's come over in months!"   
Karkat sighed loudly.   
"What movie is that?" Terezi asked.   
"THE BEE MOVIE!!!" Sollux hollered and did a little dance.  
Karkat groaned.  
As they went inside, Terezi saw Damara, Aradia's sister, leaving for work. She looked at Terezi and Karkat, then spoke in fluent Japanese to Aradia. Aradia nodded. "No breaking things." She told her visitors.   
"ALCOHOL IN BACK OF CUPBOARD IS MINE." Damara said, before lighting a cigarette and stepping out of the house.  
Terezi had always wondered why Damara always spoke in broken English, and now she knew the answer. Damara was a deranged weaboo that probably learnt her Japanese from Google Translate. The power of knowledge was real.   
"Don't get too excited guys, its just cooking sherry." Aradia said cheerfully. "I've got crisps and fizzy drink!" Sollux clapped loudly and did his jig again. Karkat and Terezi sat together on a big beanbag while Aradia brought out snacks and plugged in the VCR, with Sollux following after her like a puppy.   
Soon the little blurp about bees not caring about what humans think was running across the screen and Karkat was rolling his eyes along with the words. Sollux sat with Aradia on the couch and fizzled every time someone on the screen said the word bee.

Aradia fell asleep during the first half of the movie, Sollux leaning on her and purring in his slumber. Terezi was rather stuffed with crisps and the warmth of Karkat next to her combined with the boring movie that never seemed to end were making her very, very drowsy. She was just about to close her eyes when Karkat nudged her. She turned her head to him.   
"Terezi, you're absolutely sure you're alright?" He asked.  
She grinned and squeezed his hand tight.  
"You know, Karkles-"  
"God help me."  
"I think that everything's going to be just alright."   
Karkat smiled and wrapped his arm around her shoulder before falling asleep.

And as Terezi closed her weary eyes she had the unmistakable feeling that what she had said was true.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well i hope u liked this lil fanfic hope it warmed ur heart ye thanks for reading have a good day??? bye lol check out my other fanfics maybe and my shameless self advertising sometime as well
> 
> ahaha and of course i had to end the story with terezi falling asleep again like she does in the end of every single chapter
> 
> if you want to know what happens after this im not going to write a sequel bcs there isnt much else to tell yknow
> 
> but basically vriska mows down the entire neighbourhood with a monster truck and falls in love with kankri but hes dead and is a oozing pulp on the ground because she just ran him down with a monster truck so she kisses him and he comes back to life and hes the seer of blood and vriskas like hallyshet ur a fucking seer too like terezi bcs shes actually quadrant skippin all over the damn place and hell if anyone knows it i wrote this a fucking long time ago and my new otp is scourge sisters idk i ship the fuck everything but anyway and kankris like ye and what the fuck am i doing


End file.
